


Camouflage

by ForcedToDoThis404



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Color Changing Scales, Dragons, F/M, Gen, Glory is a badass, Mild Gore, Portals, Protective Deathbringer, Search and Rescue
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24278506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForcedToDoThis404/pseuds/ForcedToDoThis404
Summary: Glory from Wings of Fire somehow ends up in Shiganshina in year 845, right before the Colossal Titan and Armored Titan's assault on Wall Maria.She's never told the other dragonets, but she was always fascinated by scrolls about the scurrying, hairless monkeys that were scavengers. Now, she had a chance to observe them, and even interact with them. Of course, that was short-lived as lightning struck outside, and steam started billowing over the massive walls surrounding the city...Naturally, she joins the fight on humanity's side, and her abilities prove useful to say the least. It gets even better when she drags Deathbringer into the mix.
Relationships: Deathbringer/Glory (Wings of Fire)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 47





	1. Walls

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this instead of studying for AP WH, so y'all better enjoy this story. That will be all. Enjoy your read, leave a comment, and check out my other stories.

A small, lithe dragon reclined upon the wooden pedestal that sat upon a suspended wooden platform held up by massive kapok trees, decorated with flowering vines. Her scales a muted green and other earthy colors, blending in with her surroundings. The canopy of leaves above would filter out the harsh tropical sunlight, letting warmer, softer rays through, tinged slightly green. Strategically placed between the canopy where the Rainwing villages were situated, and the cool, damp forest floor, where the Nightwings had haphazardly set up their village, this "throne room" (more of a glorified platform) represented the union of two tribes, and at the pinnacle of it all, was Queen Glory, and her assassin/bodyguard/boyfriend, Deathbringer. 

Though, right now, the sun was setting, dipping below the canopy. The sky was darkening as the rays of light were devoured by the horizon, and the platform was deserted. All but two dragons remained.

"Well, that was the last of the duties for today, Glory," Deathbringer remarked, a pleased smile plastered on his face. "You need to go rest now. You're not sleeping enough, and that's coming from me," he added with a look of concern. "You know, the one dragon who always watches over you," he continued, exchanging his look of concern with a smug grin. 

"Thanks, I didn't notice," Glory sighed, rubbing her face with her talons, slouching and letting the tension seep from her shoulder and wings. "My body is sore from doing nothing, can you believe it?" she groaned. 

Despite the color and sounds of the rainforest, it did get awfully boring and mundane, sitting and resolving issues from both Rainwings and Nightwings all day, every day. _'They weren't even big issues, mostly food disputes that shouldn't even reach my attention,'_ she grumbled mentally.

"Hey, Deathy. I think I'm going to go for an evening flight," Glory said, throwing her head back to work out the kinks that had accumulated. 

"Can I come with?" Deathbringer asked, giving her puppy dog eyes. He knows that Glory does quite like her alone time, but he didn't want her to be alone at night in a rainforest crawling with who knows what, or so that's what he told himself. 

Glory thought for a moment, then gave another heavy sigh. "Please, Deathbringer. I need some alone time, especially when the rest of my waking hours is completely eaten up by being queen. I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself, and besides, I'm sure you must be tired," Glory replied, flexing her talons.

"What if someone tries to kidnap you, or hurt you? You and I know perfectly well some Nightwings still have it out for you," Deathbringer replied, adopting his mastered look of concern. 

"It'll just be a short flight, to work out the knots that come from sitting all day," Glory muttered. 

Deathbringer fell silent for a moment. 

"I do think I'm quite tired as well," he said, circling back to her previous statement. He strode up to her and softly rubbed her shoulders, drawing a small purr from Glory as a hint of pink crept up her scales. 

"Be back soon, I don't want a single scratch on you, or I'm tearing up the whole forest," he commanded, then defaulted back to his smug grin. 

"Will do," Glory replied with a smirk, before taking Deathbringer's talons and gently nicking one of her scales. "Go tear up the forest, I command you."

Deathbringer responded with a light chuckle. "Go enjoy your evening, my queen. You've more than earned it." 

As she turned to depart into the darkening sky, Deathbringer added, "If you want more alone time, maybe have some other dragons do the busy work for you."

"I'll think about it," she called back, making a mental note to consider it when she returned. She leaped off the platform gracefully, and with a few measured flaps, disappeared into the dark forest.

He sat there in silence for a few moments, taking in his surroundings and letting the tension and strain melt from his body too. ' _Did I antagonize her recently?'_ he thought with a small frown. He then let out a small chuckle. _'Who am I kidding, we're always antagonizing each other. It's the foundation really.'_

Deathbringer then also left the wooden platform and started to fly back to the wooden structure that he and Glory shared, leaving a desolate platform behind him. 

_End of another day._

Drifting to sleep, all he could think about was Glory's shape growing smaller and smaller as she flew away. He hoped she'd stay safe.

_Be back soon, my rainbow._

Glory zipped through the sky, getting in the movement she so desperately wanted, performing flips and turns, clambering up and down trees, enjoying the freedom of movement. As she only just escaped the cave that she was raised in with the other dragonets a few months ago, there were still portions of the vast rainforest she called home that she wasn't familiar with. Eager to acquaint herself, she dropped to the forest floor and began wandering around, taking note of things, animals, roots, insects, everything.

 _'Have other dragons do my busywork? I could use a reduced workload, but who is qualified and trustworthy enough to handle all of that? Probably just Deathbringer.'_ Glory thought as she plodded along, inspecting trees, rocks, absorbing the sounds of the rainforest in. 

Breathing deeply, savoring the crispness of the cool air, her vision caught something. 

A waterfall. Sheltered from the rest of the forest by a dense semicircle of trees and shrubbery. A little oasis from the chaos of daily dragon life. 

Glory elegantly dived in, feeling the crisp, refreshing water run over her scales, she started to giggle like a dragonet. All the day's tension escaped her body as she splashed and swam. 

_'Why haven't I found this before? New favorite spot. I'll bring Deathbringer next time. Darn, now I'm getting jealous of the Seawings. Tsunami, you win this round,'_ Glory thought, paddling laps around the pool at the base of the waterfall. 

Glory submerged herself and surfaced behind the waterfall, eager to do more than swim laps. Her jaw dropped by what she saw. A tall, completely flat, and wholly reflective rock, a giant mirror for all intents and purposes. Glory stepped up to it, admiring her reflection. The mirror was hidden by the waterfall and shrouded by the darkness of the cave that it was in.

_'Wonder how many dragons have been here.'_

Slowly bringing her talon up to the glossy surface, she tapped it. No sound registered in her ears, where it was expected. Instead, her talon sunk in, and a ripple was sent across the face of the rock. Against common sense, Glory dipped her whole talon into the rock. Clenching it, she grabbed nothing but air. 

_'In and out, 20-minute adventure.'_ Glory smiled and stepped in, against all common sense. 

Immediately, she started falling down a sheer surface. Seeing the rock wall zooming by, Glory flared her wings and tried to slow her fall, but it wasn't enough. She smashed into something, like a falling tree, obliterating it. The air rang with the crumbling of stone and the snapping of wood. Screams soon followed. 

Glory groaned, the pain of her fall finally registering. Doing a self-check with her eyes scrunched like a newly hatched dragonet, besides a few bloody scratches, she was completely fine. 

_'Ow. Yikes, that's gonna leave a scar. Tail, nothing broken; talons, nothing broken; limbs, nothing broken. Phew.'_

A sigh of relief left her as she finally opened her eyes, her pupils immediately shrank into slits to accommodate the flood of light that contrasted the cave.

A blue sky stared back at her, clouds floating by like leaves in the wind.

Bringing her gaze down, she saw that she was lying in a pile of rubble, precisely cut rocks, and wooden planks, it seemed. Some other unidentified items. 

Her observations were cut short by screams and gasps.

"What is that _thing?_ " a man asked.

"Does it eat humans like the titans outside?" A kid asked.

"My kids! My kids were sleeping inside!" a woman shrieked.

Glory immediately shot to her legs. 

_'Scavengers!? Why can I understand them?'_

The woman, completely disregarding the dragon standing on the rubble, dashed to the rubble, and began digging through, desperate to save her children.

Glory only watched in concern. 

Frantic footsteps and yelling registered in her ears. Turning her head, she saw a group of uniformed scavengers with sharp metal blades running towards her. Halting a small distance from her, the two sides silently observed one another.

"Commander Hannes! That thing looks dangerous. We should kill it immediately," a soldier yelled.

"That thing is 4 meters tall! It's just four of us, and we haven't trained in a while! We should wait for reinforcements," another soldier said.

Glory would have been happy to continue observing, but the screams of the mother demanded her attention. It was her fall that endangered the scavengers, and she didn't mean it. Guilt began to pool in Glory, as dark purple started to flood her scales. She gingerly dislodged herself from the rubble, then turned to help the woman clear away the rubble. Her keen sense of smell immediately located the children, and luckily, she didn't pick up any blood. 

Hefting one final rock away, she picked up the scared and crying baby scavengers carefully, and passed it to the mother, tears still drying on her face.

"Even if you can't understand me, thank you," the female scavenger whimpered, hugging her hatchlings tightly. "Shhhh, shhh. Momma's got you now. It's okay," the female scavenger whispered, easing the cries of her children. 

Glory felt a small smile form, the dark purple scales replaced with patches of indigo and yellow.

The crowd that had amassed to observe the spectacle was quite impressive, and hushed voices rang about. 

She's never told the other dragonets, or Deathbringer even, for that matter, but she was always fascinated by scrolls about the scurrying, hairless monkeys that were scavengers. Now, she had a chance to observe them, and even interact with them. Of course, that was short-lived as a blinding bolt of lightning struck outside, and steam started billowing over the massive walls surrounding the city. The ground started to shake uncontrollably, as everyone shrieked in terror. 

The city fell into pandemonium.

"What was that?!" someone shrieked.

"An explosion?" another person asked.

"Are you okay?" yet another person asked, helping their child up.

Glory, still silent, watched in horror, as the biggest, most grotesque thing she ever saw peek its head over the massive walls that encased the city. 


	2. Colossal Threat

Whatever color was on Glory's lithe form was instantly drowned out with lime green, her jaw slackening, showing her sparkling, sharp teeth. 

Soon after, the gate of the city was kicked in, massive gusts of wind destroying houses, and killing people. The shower of rubble and rocks that followed was even deadlier, painting the whole city with sprays of red. The whole city erupted with shrieks and wails of the wounded and scared.

Swallowing her fear, Glory shifted her scales to blend with the surroundings. Seeing the soldiers scramble, she decided it would be best to follow them. 

Jumping from roof to roof, the scenes of carnage and bloodshed etched into her mind, she quickly made her way towards the main sites of damage. 

Being able to understand the screams and wails of the scavengers drove Glory to aid them. It wasn't much, but it was still something. She's big enough to help them. Digging through the collapsed structures to help free people, even as they shriek loudly, looking with wide eyes at her, trying to scramble away.

Or behind her.

Glory glanced behind her and saw a huge misshapen scavenger. The scavengers below her shriek again, and started running. Looking at the thing again, she saw the grotesque mockery of a scavenger pick up a small scavenger hiding in an alley and bring the child up to its mouth.

The child kicked and screamed. That thing was huge, easily twice Glory's size, but she still had to try.

Leaping onto the giant, she clawed its face brutally, blinding it, forcing a yelp of surprise from the lumbering beast. Raking the wrists of the giant, its grip loosened as the tendons were cut, snapping like vines under the assault of her sharp talons. Grabbing the child with her prehensile tail, she set it down safely after running away.

"Run, child," she articulated slowly, hoping it'd understand.

The scavenger only looked at her with surprise, still shocked, before nodding frantically, clambering to its hind paws, and running with all its might. Glory could never understand how they balanced and moved so well on just two limbs, without a tail to top it all off!

Circling around again, Glory tensed her muscles to finish off the lumbering beast. Instead, what she saw instead was the thing rapidly knitting itself together, flesh appearing out of the steam pouring from its body like the waterfall just minutes ago. Vision and grip restored, it turned to find more innocents.

Realizing these things don't die, Glory grit her teeth, and set about search and rescue, instructing the scavengers to run, seeing as they at least somewhat understood what she commanded. Still, her efforts were minuscule in the grand scheme of things. Thousands died that day, crushed, quartered, digested, and regurgitated. 

In between fighting titans and rescuing, she would return to a camouflaged state, masking her movements. Seeing two children run towards the action and not away, her curiosity and desire to save were piqued, and she turned to follow them.

"Mom! Mom!" the little boy screamed.

"Mikasa, grab that side," the little boy said. "We need to move this beam.

Glory watched as they tried their damndest to move it, only to be stopped by the footfalls of a titan walking towards them. A huge titan, three times as large as Glory, wearing a nightmarish grin.

"Hurry Mikasa!" the boy shouted.

"I know!" was all Mikasa said.

"Eren, take Mikasa and run!" the woman pinned under the rubble commanded.

"I want to run! Hurry up and get out!" Eren said.

"My legs have been crushed! I can't even if I want to," the woman said grimly.

"I'll carry you and run!" Eren shouted.

"Why can't you just listen to what I say for once!?" the woman shrieked, eyes aflame with anger. 

"Please just listen to me! Just one last time," she pleaded. "Mikasa!"

"No...NO!" Mikasa cried.

A soldier started running towards the trio. Glory recognized him from when she first entered this dimension. She sat quietly in her camouflaged form, taking a moment to catch her breath and watch the scene with concern and despair. 

"Hannes," the woman cried. "Take the kids and run!"

"Don't take me so lightly, Carla. I'll kill the titan and save all three of you," Hannes responded with a smirk.

Taking out the sharp blades, he started running towards the titan. 

No longer interested in just watching, she swooped down and tried to help free the woman, much to the surprise of the three. They started shrieking with fear, but Glory told them to shut up, and surprisingly, they obeyed. She set about heaving the rubble, but the massive log proved too much even for her strength. The soldier aborted his attack on the titan, instead backing off in fear of its ghastly grin. Hannes turned back and saw the dragon from earlier tugging at the beam that Carla was stuck under. He pushed all thoughts about the absurdity of the situation into the back of his head, and yanked the two children away, and started running. He saw the 4-meter tall multi-colored dragon try to stand between the titan and Carla, roaring furiously, only to get swatted into a nearby house. The smiling titan turned, before advancing on the destroyed house and started digging at the rubble where her food lay helplessly.

"Hey, Hannes!" Eren cried. "What are you doing! Mom is still trapped in there!"

Dizzy and trapped under some rubble, Glory's keen ears picked up Carla crying. "Eren! Mikasa! Live on! Don't go..."

Massive footsteps rang the ground, and she could hear the rubble being cleared.

"STOOOOOOOOOOOP!" a shrill cry rang out.

_'Shit. Get out, get out!'_

Glory started shoving at the rubble covering her, fighting her throbbing headache. As she tossed the last bit of rubble aside, it was too late. She saw the scavenger fighting against the titan, who then broke her back, brought her to its mouth, and chomped down. Blood sprayed everywhere, splattering the roads and houses, even on Glory. 

_'I didn't know scavengers had so much blood.'_ Glory thought with a pang of disgust and guilt.

Disgusted, and seeing nothing more could be done, as these things were unkillable, Glory stumbled out of the rubble, and retreated, her thoughts going back to the little scavengers that lost so much that day. 

Only to find out they were about to lose so much more.

The second strike of lightning, this time smaller, brought another huge being, this one covered in tough armor, seeing as the scavenger cannons brutally failed to do anything against this beast, whereas it'd wipe other titans out of existence. Glory, flying behind this titan, saw it crash through another of the giant stone walls clearly meant to keep this lumbering, nightmarish scavengers out. The gate exploded under the impact, and the scavenger soldiers unfortunate enough to get caught up in its charge were flung into the air, almost in slow motion as they gracefully sailed through the air with the rubble, before colliding with the ground in a symphony of snapping bones and crushed organs. 

After straightening up and exhaling fumes from its run, the Armored Titan turned its pupilless yellow eyes towards the ships sailing down the canal, carrying scores and scores of scavengers fleeing the carnage. It leaned down and prepared to charge once more when a colorful dragon, the stuff of myths and legends landed heavily in front of him. Reared back on two legs with wings scarlet with rage flared and poisonous fangs bared, it roared a challenge at him, scales flashing neon colors that confused the shifter inside.

The refugees all gathered on one side of the boat to witness the fight. Some of the refugees aboard had been personally saved by this dragon. Eager to share their stories, they exclaimed knowledge of the dragon to the rest of the crowd. 

"Hey, I know that dragon. It saved me from a titan and even told me to run! That thing is fierce. I was about to be eaten when it showed up and blinded a titan before slicing its arms up!" a kid shouted, an enthusiastic expression on his face contrasting the situation.

Many were in disbelief, refusing to accept the seemingly outlandish story, but those doubts were quickly erased as they saw the dragon duel the abnormal titan.

The combatants took their stances. Glory lowered herself, wings flared for balance, ready to pounce. The titan bent its knees and held up its fists, a perfect mix of offense and defense. 

The two sides then charged. Glory's small size and the Armored Titan's slow speed all worked to her favor. She easily evaded its slow strikes, the jabs and crosses missed by wide margins. While her talons couldn't penetrate its thick armor, she managed to poke its eyes out after clambering up its arms. She was also able to stab the titan in unarmored places, easily destroying its ability to move effectively. After slashing out the delicate back of its knee, she circled around, and pounced onto the massive armor plates on the titan's chest, toppling the titan with ease. she could see that it had stopped steaming, and its wounds remained. She could kill this one. 

She could hear the cheers of the scavengers behind her, and indigo bloomed across her scales. Rapidly thrusting her sharp talons into the titan's underarm multiple times, and securing a hold on the limb, with a mighty tug, she was able to rip its arm off, as blood splattered and steamed everywhere. Before she could continue mauling the being, she was bathed in steam, and it didn't feel too dissimilar to hot days in the jungle. To her shock, the entire titan started to wither underneath her. Amidst the steam, she couldn't see that the shifter was escaping, seeing the situation was unwinnable. Standing proudly on the corpse of the titan, she proudly roared her victory to the sky, wings flared and tail arched. 

_Tired._

The flying and rescuing and fighting had taken a toll on Glory. She hung her head and breathed deeply, relishing the rush of air to her needy body as her body slacked and loosened.

 _'If I go back to where I fell, the mirror is probably right there. I saw a glimpse of it before falling on to that house. But, the suffering of these scavengers is great, and there is one I must speak to before I return,'_ she thought, picturing the scavenger screaming as he was carried away.

Landing on the deck of the boat, where the scavengers had gathered to watch her, she walked through the crowd of scavengers gingerly. They eyed her warily but didn't run. Her sharp green eyes were scanning for the little boy named Eren, but it was his promise to himself to kill and eradicate the titans that actually let her know where the boy stood. 

The crowd made way for her, and she crouched down to the little boy. Sadness and concern clouded her eyes, tears clearly gathering.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save your mother, Eren," Glory confessed. She reached out a talon to lightly tussle the little boy's hair, hoping the little act would somehow make up for all his pain. He brought his little paw up to feel her talons, before dropping back down to his side again.

 _'Scavenger paws feel weird. I wonder what Deathbringer would think.'_

Satisfied, Glory turned and leaped off the boat, leaving an imprint of her hind talons on the wooden deck. Pressing onward, her muscles burning, she leaped through the mirror that sat on a small imprint in the wall, taking one last look at the burning ruins of a once lively city. 

Tumbling into the cold water with a gasp, she crawled onto a flat rocky surface, before letting the exhaustion take over, as she finally let her grasp on reality go.

 _'Deathbringer's concerned eyes betrayed his angry features,'_ she thought, before regretting worrying him.

"Where did you go?" he growled.

"Wow, those berries were quite the trip!" Glory lied, an aloof smile on her face.


	3. Return

Two of the three moons were completely dark blending in with the night sky, the remaining moon only a mere crescent, casting what little light it could on the dark lands below. The stars accompanying the moon glittered also, but alas, for the rainforest below remained bathed in darkness. Crickets chirping, fireflies flitting about, flashing, and the soft breeze wafted through the canopy. 

A green and red dragon lay curled on a platform, a black dragon curled around her. Her talons twitching, face scrunched, tail lashing lightly, and teeth bared, it was clear something was wrong. But how could that be? The rainforest was tranquil as could be.

_Crunch._

_"No. Stop it. Stop, don't!" the scavenger cried out. "Don't eat me. Please, I'll do anything. No!" it begged, before screaming in agony as another bone was snapped, this time in its thigh. The titan's lazy eyes didn't even look at its meal._

_Glory watched in horror. She wanted to help so desperately, but her movements were sluggish. Nothing obeyed her, it was as if everything was dripping with honey, except the only thing dripping was the blood of the scavenger down the titan's hand._

_"Help me! Somebody! Someone, please. I don't want to die!" the scavenger screeched._

_Glory winced as the titan brought its jaws down on the scavenger's head, its blood and brains splattering everywhere._

Glory's eyes shot open. Her body wracked with shivers, shaking with frustration and disgust. She ran her talons along her face and neck, trying to resituate herself in the real world again, panting lightly. She looked back at Deathbringer's sleeping form, focusing on his slowly rising chest, the soft whispers of his breathing, and his stupidly handsome face. Her breathing slowed, movements stilled. She leaned against him lightly, purring and relishing the contact, as all the horrors of the dream seeped out.

 _'I need to go back.'_ she suddenly thought. 

Tiptaloning to the exit of the hut, she took off silently, barely disturbing the air as she slipped through the trees, towards the waterfall, deliberately focusing on the sounds of the rainforest and tearing her focus away from her rather horrid nightmare.

Landing at the edge of the small lake formed by the waterfall, she dove through, executing a perfect roll, before coming to a stop on the rocky ledge where the mirror stone sat. Clenching her talons, and gritting her teeth, she backed up for a running start and vaulted into the mirror, preparing to flare wings for flight.

The scenery immediately changed, the dark cave filled with the sounds of water immediately changed to blinding daylight. Glory scrunched her eyes as she hovered blindly, allowing her eyes to adjust, before opening them to observe the damage.

Looking down, she saw the smoking ruins of a city surrounded by massive walls once again, just like last time. Only this time, she saw more soldiers present, swinging from the buildings like tree gliding Rainwings, slashing, cutting, and chopping desperately to hold back the advancing giants. Despite all the blood and sweat shed by the valiant soldiers, slowly, the titans gained ground, soldiers dying left and right from impact or being eaten alive. Glory dove forth, eager to help. Eyes focusing on all the titans, she would turn whenever she saw a scavenger about to be turned into a snack, blinding the titan, cutting its wrist, then yanking the scavenger out, and setting them gently on a roof, before moving on, leaving in her wake smoking titans and confused scavengers. 

_'They're all wearing uniforms, and carrying blades. I thought titans were unkillable, so are they just expendable or what?'_ Glory pondered. Her question was answered as she observed the soldiers fight.

She flared her wings, halting herself midair. Her jaw dropped. The soldiers who were flying through the air and cutting titans nearby all stopped to marvel at the multicolored dragon.

"I thought dragons were just fairy tales," one remarked.

"Look at its scales, it's all turning from red, black, and green... to various shades of the sunset?" another exclaimed. "It changes colors that's so cool!"

"We have to get back to work, stop getting distracted," an officer commanded.

"No, sir. Everyone, look at what the dragon is looking at! Is that how titans reproduce!?" the final soldier yelled.

Glory paid them no heed, as she watched in horror. A clenched hand shot out of the bald titan's mouth before it fell over with a thunderous boom. The whole thing started to wriggle like a worm as something moved within. Skin stretching and tearing, before giving way. A titan, equal in size and shrouded in blood and steam stood from the corpse, hunched over, before rearing its head and roaring with fury. Two sets of teeth, one higher than the other, and elfish ears separated this titan from the others. 

_'It's not misshapen like the other titans. This one doesn't lumber around, it moves with purpose,'_ Glory noted.

The most startling thing about this titan was its piercing, glowing green eyes. 

A small titan, likely Glory's size, crawled towards this newcomer, before coming to a stop a distance away. The newcomer straightened and observed the impish titan, before stomping towards it, hatred evident in its eyes, the boom of its footfalls shattering stone, and echoing through the streets.

The small titan did what no one expected, not the soldiers, nor Glory. It sprung into the air like a rabbit, towards the new titan, before receiving a fist the size of its head into its open jaws. Its momentum was completely negated by the uppercut. The thing dropped to the ground, limp and steaming, its jaw and skull shattered. The new titan raised its foot slowly, before bringing it down hard like a falling boulder onto the fallen titan. Not once, not twice, but 4 times! The fallen titan was turned to a bloody, steaming mush and did not regenerate. 

"WHAT!??" a soldier shrieked. 

"Titans never attack each other! This one is clearly an aberrant!" another observed quietly. 

"GET BACK TO KILLING TITANS! WE HAVE NO TIME TO GET DISTRACTED, NOT WHILE INNOCENTS ARE DYING," the officer commanded, swinging his blades with fury. 

The soldiers all dispersed to continue the fight between humanity and the titans.

Glory left also, flying towards areas with high concentrations of titans. 

_'It would seem the civilians are all evacuated. It's just soldiers now,'_ Glory thought with relief. 

Seeing the scavengers cut the napes of the titans, and how it killed them permanently, she started biting and clawing into the smaller titans' napes, seeing as they were around her size. Neither her jaw nor talons would damage the nape of the larger titans enough to permanently terminate them, but every killed titan was one less that would hurt an innocent. Working her way towards the tallest structure in the city, she could see the new titan was there already, executing titans with ease through grabs, holds, punches, and its lethal serrated jaws. By the time she landed on a nearby roof, she could see the new titan was struggling with the titans already. A group of younger scavenger soldiers was crowded on a nearby roof, watching the new titan getting eaten with horror, and stealing glances at her with curiosity. 

"They're eating it," a soldier remarked in horror. "Its body can't regenerate?"

"I thought uncovering the truth about that Titan might be the key to freeing ourselves from this desperate situation," another soldier said, disappointment evident in her voice. 

"I agree. If they just rip it to shreds like that, then we wouldn't have learned a single thing!" someone replied. "We should get rid of the titans currently devouring it, and at least try to keep it alive."

"Are you insane, Reiner?! We can finally escape this deathtrap!" someone yelled.

"But what if that Titan could become an ally?" came a reply. 

"Our ally?"

"Wait, look, the mysterious dragon is going in to help!"

But she couldn't stand by. Ripping the napes of the smaller titans, ending them permanently, she leaped back and yelped with surprise as the titan being eaten and seemingly defeated gave a large, furious roar and started charging, arms ripping off in the process. In just a few moments, all the titans in the courtyard were dead and smoking. 

Glory was thoroughly impressed with its performance, but it was still a titan, right? 

"What was that about helping it? Because I think that's a moot point now," someone remarked with a dry laugh. 

Armless and with ribs exposed, the new titan gave one last roar to the sky above, before collapsing to its knees, then faceplanting into the pavement below. The form started to whither too with a flood of steam, and Glory grimly remembered the Armored Titan's demise in this manner. 

From the nape of the titan, a human appeared. Glory, standing on the cobblestone floor, reared up, and flapped her wings to clear the steam, and much to her surprise, it was the little scavenger from the last time she was in this realm, whose mother she failed to save. His name was Eren if she recalled correctly. The black-furred girl from last time was there too, wearing a uniform. She hugged the boy, and started crying tears of joy, atop a steaming corpse. Glory only watched on. Seeing titans still ravaging the city, she turned to continue killing titans, when a shrill voice rang out.

"Wait!" 

Glory froze and turned towards the source of the voice. 

It was the black-furred scavenger with a red wrapping around its neck.

"C-can you understand me?" it asked, apprehensive. The other soldiers on the roof watched, blades ready, in case the 5-meter dragon was hostile. 

Glory lowered herself to the girl's level, wings folded and talons held underneath her form to minimize the aggressiveness of her appearance.

"Mikasa, right?" Glory asked, with a small smile, careful to not expose her fangs.

"How did you know!?" Mikasa exclaimed. The other soldiers gasped.

"I heard Eren say it, and I'm a quick learner," Glory replied, indigo rolling up her scales.

"Why do you help us? Where are you from?" Mikasa asked with wide eyes.

"You guys don't deserve to suffer like this," Glory said, pensively, before continuing. "It helps that I can understand your screams of agony, so I'd be hard-pressed to not help. Also, you scavengers are always something that fascinated me."

"Scavengers? What?" Mikasa asked, indignantly. "We're humans, hu-mans. Not scavengers. We're not that pathetic."

Mikasa was about to continue talking when Glory's stomach rumbled. 

"I'd love to continue talking with you, but can we do it over something to eat? I'm famished, you know," Glory said.

Everyone looked at her with fear in their eyes, silence permeating the plaza. Glory looked around for a few moments, before laughing heartily. 

"Look at her fangs! Those look vicious," someone voiced in fear.

Glory stopped laughing when she heard swords being brandished, a flash of fear bolted through her body, and her muscles tensed, but she forced it down.

"You guys should see the look on your faces! My tribe only eats fruits," Glory said with an amused smile, before dissolving into laughter again, her scales flashing pink, yellow, and blue. 

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but that was cut short as another wave of titans started creeping towards the soldiers. 

"Everyone, attack! Follow um..." Mikasa said, before drifting off.

"Glory."

"Yes, that," Mikasa added with a small tinge of embarrassment. 

Glory lifted off, and pounced on the tallest titan, shredding its eyes with her talons before moving on. In a few moments, the soldiers and Glory had dealt with the small group of titans. 

"I really need to eat. The sun can only give me so much energy," Glory complained, eager to keep the mood afloat and keep the scavengers' minds off the carnage.

"Does anyone have combat rations we can feed the dragon?" someone asked.

"Hey, I have a name, you know," Glory retorted.

"Not that I know of. We'll have to go over the wall to get anything."

Glory sighed. She only had half a night of sleep, having been rudely interrupted by the nightmare. She was running on fumes at this point. 

"I guess it's time for me to return home then," she said, exhaustion seeping into her voice, head slumped. 

"Are you going to come back and help us fight the titans?" someone asked, hope in their voices.

"You still didn't answer where you're from," Mikasa added.

"Where I'm from there aren't any titans. I'll bring someone to help next time I come around, I promise, but he's kinda scared of scavengers, or humans, as you call yourselves," Glory said. "I must go now, I'm really tired and hungry."

"Hey, Mikasa," Glory added.

Mikasa turned to Glory, her expression at Glory's word's unreadable. 

"Tell Eren I say hello," Glory said with another smile.

Mikasa nodded affirmation, before turning and leaving with the other scavengers.

Glory turned the other way and flew towards the portal. 

_Wait, so Mikasa and Eren look a lot older, and if I remember correctly, the city from last time fell completely to the titans and seeing how the humans fared last time, there's no way this is the same place as last time. So does the portal move to where I'm needed the most? Well, Deathbringer is probably freaking out, and he deserves to know the truth._

Glory sighed sadly.

_At least I saved many today._

Diving back through the portal, she tumbled into the stone wall on the other side. Groaning in pain, and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she noticed Deathbringer's dark purple eyes standing out in the darkness, glowing practically. 

"So, was it the berries again?" he asked smugly, sitting at the entrance to the cave.

Glory sat silently for a moment, contemplating her next actions and words, before burying her face in the curve of Deathbringer's neck.

"I'm really sorry about worrying you, both this time and that time several years ago when I went for the evening flight."

Deathbringer wrapped his wings around her. 

"Just tell me where you're going, so I know where to look for you if you're gone for too long, okay? Can you do that for me, my love?" Deathbringer asked.

"I love you," Glory said with a deep sigh as all tension left her body, melting into Deathbringer. "I'll do so next time. Actually, I want to tell you about what it's like on the other side. So much tragedy and suffering. I actually went to help. A lot of scavengers involved, so if you don't want to hear it, I can understand," Glory continued.

"Hah. Scavenger or not, I want to know what adventures you went on," Deathbringer said, an eye ridge raised in interest.

"It started the night I told you I wanted to go on an evening flight after a long day of being a good queen, those years ago..."

"You're the perfect queen."

"Oh shut up, you handsome, charming dragon!"


	4. First Victory

Deathbringer lashed his tail furiously, talons, clenching, crushing the stone floor underneath to gravel, mind sprinting from the flood of angry and indignant thoughts.

Glory watched him pace and mutter with interest, thinking back to what she told him.

_'Giant, grotesque mockeries of scavengers eating them... You could hear their screams, their last words. They're intelligent, just like us... If you don't kill them through excessive damage at their nape, they come back, good as new... I want to help them.'_

"Why wasn't I informed of this sooner? Like scavenger weirded me out, mostly the eyes and paws, but if I knew they were actually intelligent, and not hints of intelligence, I wouldn't be opposed to helping," Deathbringer fretted, talons waving his frustration. "I could have helped you make a bigger difference, help these humans see another day!"

Glory stared glumly at her talons, each of Deathbringer's sensible words dropping another boulder of guilt onto her already slumped form. It was bad enough that she worried him, but here he was, tearing into Glory's various oversights of the situation.

Deathbringer stopped talking and looked at Glory expectantly, noticing her body language. He leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her bowed head, hoping it would quell her inner turmoil. Her head shot up in surprise, bringing the tears streaming down her face to his attention. Deathbringer's sharp purple eyes widened a bit with surprise, finally realizing what he'd done. 

"Hey, hey. Glory, look at me," he said in a low voice with furrowed brows. "Look at me. What's done is done, Glory. You should know that of all dragons."

"Yes, but," Glory started, but was cut off.

"No buts, Glory. I know what you're thinking, no mindreading needed. I don't blame you for your shortcomings. You did so much for them already, gave so much. Come here," he assured her, wrapping his star swirled wings around her, murmuring sweet nothings into her ears to calm her.

Glory sighed and leaned into the warm embrace. 

"It's okay. I'll help you fight these things. We can go now if you want," Deathbringer continued.

Glory gave him a small smile, but it faltered.

Deathbringer's eyes furrowed again.

"What's wrong? Wait actually, don't answer that. I think I know. You didn't sleep enough since you woke up in the middle of the night, and you went fighting on an empty stomach. Well, lucky for you, we've still a few hours before sunrise. You were gone for an hour tops. We can go in the morning. I can arrange for Grandeur or someone else to take your place for the day," Deathbringer suggested, his eyes twinkling when Glory gave a muted nod to his words.

With a soundless yawn, Glory stretched every muscle in her body at once, then promptly fell asleep. Deathbringer was impressed, to say the least. He curled around her sleeping form, appreciating her smooth scales before falling asleep himself, right there on the damp cave floor.

When Glory awoke to smell before sight. She could almost taste the delectable fruits. Opening her eyes to sunlight filtering into the cave through the screen of water, she saw a pile of guavas in front of her snout, and a pleased Deathbringer feasting on a wild board.

Glory just smiled at Deathbringer, appreciation in her lopsided grin, before digging ravenously into the pile.

It wasn't long before Glory was finalizing the preparations for the forest to function in her absence. Deathbringer gave a stern scolding to the Nightwings to stay in line, while Glory informed Grandeur that she was to depart on a little personal matter. Both satisfied, they reconvened at the cave.

"Jump into the rock, and have your wings ready to fly. I found that out the hard way the first time," Glory instructed. 

Nodding silently, Deathbringer stood back to let Glory through first, before jumping through himself, bracing himself for whatever was on the other end.

The still, cool air of the cave was replaced with the warm gale of high altitude, as the cloudless sky bore down on a city smoking and steaming. Looking around frantically, he saw Glory's colorful form diving already.

Folding his wings, and diving after her, keen eyes observing anything and everything, it wasn't long before he picked up on what Glory had told him about. Scavenger soldiers swinging through the structures, slicing at the disgusting giants. 

_'Her description kind of understated how horrid these things look,'_ he thought, glancing at a titan with a head the size of its body, wondering how on Earth it moved. _'These things are huge too, the biggest ones are almost triple my height, three moons!'_

Following Glory closely, he started dispatching titans with ease, his extensive experience in killing put to use. Pushing the piercing gazes of the scavengers to the back of his mind, he set himself to killing these horrendous beings. For the bigger ones, he and Glory would put together their strengths to execute them with ease, her agility used to distract and disarm, his larger strength and weight finishing the downed beings. It was exhilarating for Deathbringer, to be able to fight side by side with the dragoness that he loved and admired so much. Glory thought the same thing. Like a single being, a single entity, for observers, it seemed as if the two could communicate without speaking. Leaving a trail of steaming corpses, Glory stopped suddenly to the sound of deafening footfalls, echoing through the whole city.

Noticing the break of the pattern, Deathbringer looked at Glory confused, before hearing the footfalls too. Looking where she was looking also, he saw a gigantic boulder moving above the roofs of the city, steam wafting around it. Gawking at it for a few moments, he gathered all his doubts and pushed the back. Leaping off the roof gracefully, he started flying towards it. Glory followed suite.

Needless to say, they were further shocked by the sight before them. 

_'It's the same titan that Eren emerged from. Is it one of his powers? Did he become so vengeful that this mighty power manifested?'_ Glory mused. Looking at Deathbringer, her thoughts were drowned out by alarm. He was preparing to leap.

"Wait! Deathbringer, stop. That titan's on our side!" she yelped. 

Deathbringer was already in the air, but he froze up midair upon hearing her voice, resulting in him dropping to the ground like a sack of rocks. He stared up at Glory indignantly.

"Hey, what was that about?!" he yelled.

"That titan's on our side. I know this sounds crazy, but there is a scavenger inside it. It's a tool, and by the looks of it, he's using it to move the boulder to block the gate!" Glory replied. She yelped when a small voice made itself heard beside her. 

"That is completely correct. Think you can help us out some, and keep the titans away from Eren?" a seemingly furless scavenger soldier asked.

Glory nodded, recalling it was one of the soldiers on the roof watching Eren destroy titans. She was about to jump into action when the scavenger spoke again.

"Before you go make chewing toys out of the titans, care to explain who you brought with you?" he asked. 

"He's Deathbringer, and he's super annoying, but super-useful since he's a trained fighter," Glory replied with a smug smile, knowing it'd spur a reply from Deathbringer.

"Hey, I'm not super annoying, I'll have you know," Deathbringer announced with a feigned indignant huff, tossing his head for comedic haughtiness.

"Nice to meet you, Deathbringer," the scavenger said, enunciating the name slowly, wrinkling his nose at how menacing it sounded.

Without another word, the two dragons set off to be glorified bodyguards. They fell back into the dual dragon fighting style they've developed. There was a close call with one particularly slippery 11-meter titan, whose erratic movement even Deathbringer failed to keep up with. With a yelp of surprise and pain, Deathbringer aborted his pounce and planted himself between the titan and Glory's curled form, her breath knocked out, and likely a fractured rib from a rogue elbow attack by the titan. Flaring his wings, and roaring a challenge, the titan roared back, only to receive a bolt of fire to its face, much to the shock of the few scavengers present. Having forced the titan back and removing its senses for a few precious moments, Deathbringer was able to gingerly bring Glory onto a roof and lay her down. Holding back winces from Glory's pained breathing, he set about making sure she was alright. 

"Stop fretting over me like I'm a dragonet, you dummy," Glory said weakly, suppressing the pain of speaking.

"That moon blasted creature probably fractured your ribs. We might be staying here a bit until you're well enough to fly," Deathbringer stated glumly.

Glory looked disappointed for a second, then struggled to her feet. "I'm still well enough to fight, Deathy."

"No you're not," Deathbringer ordered. "Just stay here, out of the reach of the titans. I'll be back after the gate is plugged."

He sprung back into action before Glory could protest further. Heaving, Glory gingerly lay back down, easing the pain, and had to content herself with watching scavengers fight desperately, unable to help. 

As for Deathbringer, he saw a few scavenger soldiers dart towards the last titan in front of the gate. Observing their combat prowess, he was sure they could handle it and turned to return to Glory, before a shrill screech reached his ears. Glory wasn't going to die, he reassured himself, and he pivoted, turning towards the source of the cry. 

Seeing a scavenger about to be eaten, he dove towards the 8-meter tall titan, his mass bowling it over like a small sapling in a thunderstorm. The scavenger barely survived the sudden shift, but with a pained squeak, it was able to crawl away. Deathbringer blasted the titan's face with fire, before turning it over with a shove, and biting into its nape. 

Satisfied, he stood up and went to the scavenger he'd just saved, scared out of its wits. Wrapping his talons around it, he lifted off, the scavenger yelping in fear, before relaxing. Dropping it off, on a nearby roof, Deathbringer was about to fly off, before his mind made a sudden connection. He turned around with a growl, nearly scaring the scavenger into jumping off the roof. 

"Why don't you have your little flying mechanisms?" he asked gruffly.

"Some of my comrades took it and left me to die," the scavenger pouted. 

Deathbringer was surprised. Why would the scavenger's fellow soldiers leave him to die?

"Where are they?"

"On a nearby roof. Those damned traitors. I know they blew in the gates, here and in Shiganshina. Over 200 thousand people died, damn it, and they were talking about the holes they made and using their titans. Damnded bastards!" the scavenger lamented.

Deathbringer gave an understanding nod. "I'll go confront the-."

"Wait, they were watching me get attacked by the titan. If they are the titans, you have to know that even you won't stand a chance. The Colossal Titan was 60 meters tall!" the scavenger interjected.

Deathbringer looked offended. "Not even for the best assassin in all of Phyrria?"

"Not even for the best assassin of whatever the hell you just said," the scavenger stated.

"Hmmph. Well then, let's get you away from those troublemakers," Deathbringer said, before picking up the scavenger, and heading towards where the other soldiers were located on roofs, cheering. A loud bang rang, and a pillar of green smoke was sent into the sky. 

"They did it. Eren did he. He sealed the gate," the scavenger voiced, breathing a sigh of relief and joy. "This is humanity's first victory, the first time we've taken back land from the titans in 100 years!"

Deathbringer only smiled. Dropping him off, and leaving before anyone could ask questions, he bolted back to Glory's side.

"Are you feeling any better, my love?" he asked, concerned, watching over her protectively.

"Never better," Glory chuckled, before wincing.

"You moron. Don't laugh!" Deathbringer barked.

Glory looked him in the eyes. Deathbringer sighed.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha," she said dryly. "See, no pain."

"You're still hurt," Deathbringer fretted, unamused with her antics.

"So, you're the little shit who let that little brat get away?" a gruff voice declared from behind him.

Deathbringer instantly whirled around, and flared his wings, shielding Glory completely from their view. 

"So what if I am, traitors?" Deathbringer retorted.

"We came here on a mission, and we're not going to let some filthy lizard get in our way!" the light-haired scavenger barked.

"Wait, Reiner. Stop. We're getting attention from the other soldiers! We'll be trapped if we don't leave now!" one of the other soldiers accompanying remarked, tugging at his arm.

"No, we're sticking it to this lizard, here, and now!" Reiner replied, turning back to Deathbringer.

"My, my, my. What have we here?" a husky voice called out.

"Commander Pixis!" the dark-haired scavenger accompanying Reiner yelped. 

"There is a traitor amongst your ranks, Pixis," Deathbringer responded, venom dripping in his voice.

"Is that so? Reinforcements are flooding in from other districts to help clean up the mess. So then, let's hear it. You have been a great aid to our cause, dragon," Commander Pixis said with a smug expression. He always seemed like that, if one were to ask his subordinates. 

"This filthy lizard is baselessly accusing us!" Reiner yelled.

"Speaking louder and insulting me doesn't help your case, little scavenger," Deathbringer retorted smugly.

Reiner was about to get into another tangent when he was cut off.

"No! The dragon is right. Those three stripped me of my ODM gear, then left me to the mercies of the titans. He saved me just before I was about to be eaten. Cadet Marco Bott, Commander Pixis," the scavenger affirmed.

"Hmmmm," Pixis muttered.

"Even further, I heard them conversing and what I heard should incriminate them right here and now. Reiner said 'yeah, if it comes to it, I'll have to do something with my titan somehow. Then Bertholdt said 'but if their plan works, it'll plug up the hole we finally opened.' I have reason to believe they are the Armored and Colossal Titan. Furthermore, Annie Leonhardt abetted with these two, stripping me of my ODM gear," Marco Bott reported with a salute, a fist over his heart. A wave of murmurs and gasps rang among the gathered soldiers. 

Deathbringer was impressed with Marco's testimony. He shifted his gaze back to the three cadets standing there in shock.

"Damn it," Reiner muttered under his breath. 

Deathbringer raised an eyebrow. 

"Well, it would seem proper to arrest you three and subject you three to trial," Pixis mused. 

The three looked alarmed and scared. Backed into a metaphorical corner.

Behind Deathbringer, Mikasa and Glory were having a reunion, Eren sleeping on the roof, exhausted after shifting 3 times in just one day, blissfully unaware of the drama. 

"As a warrior, fulfill my duty to a bitter end," Reiner announced with gritted teeth, Annie and Bertholdt backing away from him. Reiner's teeth shattered under the pressure and provided the wound necessary for shifters to transform. Yellow lightning struck Reiner as everyone in the area scattered and dispersed frantically. 

Deathbringer had no choice. He crouched and flared his wings to protect the dragon he loved and cherished, bearing the brunt of the heat and force caused by Reiner's shift. Unbeknownst to him, Bertholdt used the opportunity to slip away, as did Annie. 

The steam began to clear as heavy footfalls rang through the city once more. 


	5. Heavy Armor

Deathbringer dug his sharp talons into the structure beneath him, defiantly opposing the heat and force of Reiner's transformation. When the heat and wind finally stopped, Deathbringer opened his eyes cautiously, then whirled around to make sure those behind him were alright, ignoring the pain of his smoking scales. The pain would subside shortly. 

_'Thank the moons,'_ Deathbringer thought, relieved that Glory and the two scavengers she was with were fine. A bit shook, but fine. He was about to ask if they were okay, but the heavy footfalls of something bigger and badder than the normal titan drew his attention. 

Quickly taking stock of the situation, and trying to keep the pain from clouding his mind, he noticed that there were no scavengers to be seen. Standing amidst the rubble was the Armored Titan, steam pouring from his body as he straightened, its armor clanging and echoing through the city. Deathbringer backed up a step, afraid. 

The titan moved forward another step. Deathbringer moved back a step, then hissed. He can't afford to back up any further, or he'd be on top of Glory. As much as he'd want to be on top of her, now was not the time.

He reluctantly shifted to the side to avoid stepping on Glory, unknowingly letting the Armored Titan see Glory, who was still on her side, but her head was craned to look at Deathbringer. Upon seeing the Armored Titan, her eyes widened. She can't fight in this state.

Glory pleadingly looked at Deathbringer, her expression telling him everything he needed to know. He grit his teeth. This was going to be a hard battle. 

The Armored Titan's shifter noted that all the other soldiers had vacated the area, and he glared back at Deathbringer, who's once-imposing 6 meters was now dwarfed by the 15-meter Armored Titan. 

Reiner smirked. He took an earth-shattering step forward and watched smugly as the dragon backed up one step. He took another forward, and the dragon took another backward. Reiner watched the dragon look backward, then hiss, the sound filling the plaza turned battle arena. He cocked an eyebrow, but soon both eyes widened as the black dragon stepped aside to keep the distance. There, lying prone on the roof, was the rainbow dragon that humiliated him at Shiganshina. 

_'Heh, wounded, probably. Let's have a field day then,'_ Reiner thought with a smug grin. He turned his attention towards Glory and relished her painful attempts to move away from him. She hissed and bared her fangs at him, but Reiner was unfazed. Well, until the black dragon pounced on him.

Deathbringer brought his entire body weight forward in a feline-like leap, shattering the roof of the scavenger structure he was standing on. Digging his claws in for traction on the beast's head, he felt the creature start to tip, but with an earth-shattering step back and a flailing arm grabbing a structure, the Armored Titan was able to stabilize himself. Deathbringer tried to get out of there, but the Armored Titan was faster. Well, almost.

Deathbringer was able to hover in the air with only a bruised tale from a failed grab by the Armored Titan. He weighed his options. 

_'I could go for another tackle, but that might end badly.'_ Deathbringer looked down at the Armored Titan's knee. Noticing how it bent forward, Deathbringer formulated a quick plan that would use the Titan's armor against it. 

He folded his wings and started to dive towards the Armored Titan, who held its arms at the ready to strike. Deathbringer suddenly let loose a bolt of flame that blinded the Titan momentarily, but that was all he needed. 

The titan's blind right hook came wide, and Deathbringer banked left and slammed into the other shoulder. The rotational movement sent the Armored Titan careening into the ground as Deathbringer's tail pulled the Armored Titan's left leg sideways. Deathbringer angled his wings and made a tight circle as he landed heavily on the Armored Titan's chest. The shifter inside winced in pain as the weight of the dragon made breathing hard. Deathbringer turned around and brought his tail around in a whip strike against the side of the Titan's jaw. The titan's struggling body slackened, disoriented by the attack.

 _'Hah, predictable. Whip strikes work great against dragons, and it looks like it works against this scavenger,'_ Deathbringer thought, before planting his hind talons firmly on the titan's knee, before grabbing its foot and pulling upwards with all his might, flapping his wing to get extra torque. The resounding crack was music to his ears, as the dislocated the knee before a talon strike against the wounded knee let Deathbringer tear the entire lower leg off.

The titan howled in pain. Deathbringer noticed the scavenger soldiers returning, hearing the Armored Titan's howls like sharks smelling blood in the water. Unfortunately, his brief moment of distraction let the Titan, from his prone position, curl sideways and grab Deathbringer's tail, before flinging him several blocks away with a loud crash into the side of a building. 

"Deathbringer!" Glory frantically called out, before falling into a fit of coughs and letting her head drop again, a pained whimper escaping her maw. It seemed the titan did more than just crack a few ribs.

Mikasa shot her ODM gear, unwilling to sit by idly. Her first attacks bounced off the thick armor, so she went for a weak spot the next time, stabbing her blades into its eyes, then zipping off, watching as the Armored Titan writhed on the floor, steam pouring out of its leg as it started healing. It gingerly pinched the blades and pulled them out, steam pouring out of his eyes as they started to heal.

It brought everyone present at the battle time.

Deathbringer moaned, pain wracking his body, snaking and wrapping around him like vines that one time he got shoved by Glory into a net of vines. 

_How long have I been out? Shit, Glory. Have to protect Glory._

He shoved at the rubble desperately, hope growing like the light that flooded his little cave as more and more rubble was shoved aside. Deathbringer tried to roll over but gave a loud roar as the dull pain all over his body suddenly all concentrated in his lower half.

 _'My hip is fucking fractured. They're not broken, thank the moons, but FUCK that hurts,'_ Deathbringer thought as pain clouded his mind.

Breathing a blast of fire to melt away the remaining rubble, Deathbringer clawed his way out of the rubble on his side, wincing as each movement sent another bolt of pain to his brain. He felt the scavengers watch him as he clawed his way out, before falling to the ground, exhausted by just moving a few meters. He craned his head to see the Titan had fully regenerated its leg, and its face was steaming. Suddenly, it brought its hand away from its face, and Deathbringer shivered as its hate fill gaze washed over him. Deathbringer was usually never one to call for help, but the situation was hopeless.

"WHAT ARE YOU LAZY GOOD FOR NOTHING SCAVENGERS DOING. FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT DAMNIT!" Deathbringer roared, before letting his head drop again as he tried to force the pain down, blood leaking out of cuts and scraps accrued by his harsh impact with the scavenger structure. 

Eren's eyes shot open, before squinting again, realizing he was staring at the blue sky.

_'What's going on?'_

Eren rolled over and heaved himself into a sitting position, after hearing the whir of ODM gear. Mikasa was immediately at his side, asking if he was alright. His mind was still foggy. Eren rubbed his head and eyes, before looking at Mikasa's concerned face.

"How long was I out?" Eren asked Mikasa in a hoarse whisper.

"About 40 minutes. Here, drink this water and eat these rations. You'll need your energy," she frantically replied, shoving a canteen and some crackers his way.

Eren hungrily gulped the water down, and started eating the crackers before he looked behind Mikasa. What he saw was horrifying. A white and green dragon was lying still some meters away, and the Armored Titan was swinging wildly at the soldiers currently orbiting around it, trying to jab their blades into the few unarmored points. Below on the ground, he saw a black dragon half-buried in rubble, blood pouring out of splinter wounds and scrapes. Mikasa moved aside, granting him a better view. It also lets Reiner see that Eren was up.

_Shit. Eren's up too. I need to get out of here or I'll be captured._

The Armored Titan started to turn and run towards the wall, preparing to crystallize the tip of its feet and fingers to climb the 50-meter wall.

_Oh, no you don't._

Deathbringer charged up at blast of fire, but he forced a change inside that would concentrate the flames into a hotter, harsher beam. Opening his mouth and letting loose, the beam cut across the Armored Titan's back, the armor falling off as a massive cut was seared into its back.

Howling in pain again, the Titan pressed onwards, steam pouring out of the wound as it started to heal. Leaping onto the wall, and digging his toes and fingers in, soon the Armored Titan was gone, and all that was left was a huge amount of rubble and wounded combatants. Soldiers started to flood the area to perform damage control. However, they cautiously kept their distance with the two dragons.

Glory felt the midday sun beaming down on her body, the warmth spreading through her body and speeding up her healing. It wasn't anything major. It'd still be a week before her ribs are back to normal, and there's no telling how long it'd be for Deathbringer to heal. Feeling the pain almost disappears, Glory knows that any significant movement would cause the pain to flare up again, so she cautiously made her way down the structure, rear first to minimize stress on her body. Glory gingerly walked through a parting sea of scavengers towards an unconscious Deathbringer, keeping her midsection as still as possible. Looking at the still form of her beloved, she let a tear fall, before gingerly setting herself down in front of him, content to just be by his side. 

"Glory?" a hoarse whisper from beside her.

Glory looked over to see Eren hobbling towards her, still weak. A small smile flitted across her snout.

"Eren," she said with a polite dip of her head.

"Mikasa filled me in on everything. I just wanted to say thanks," Eren said, reaching his hand forth to feel Glory's scales, the ones he touched turned from blue/green/grey to yellow and pink, much to his fascination.

"Who's the black dragon?" Eren asked.

"Oh, that goofball. He's Deathbringer. Got himself in a bit of a pickle with that shelled Titan. He made himself my bodyguard, and refuses to leave me alone," she said with a warm smile. "Wonder when he'll wake up. He took quite a beating," she added with a concerned expression, glancing at his awkward position.

"Say, Eren. I didn't know you could turn into a Titan," Glory remarked, remembering the carnage Eren's titan did.

"Yeah, neither did I," Eren sheepishly said. 

"Which is why all three of you must be put under military jurisdiction," a new voice said. 

All the soldiers stood to attention as a tall man with a new uniform strode towards the trio, a horse with a horn emblazoned on him.

"Commander Dok. That won't be necessary," Pixis said. "These three have been instrumental in our fight against the Armored Titan and in sealing the gate. Can't you let them catch a break? Say, dragon. Fill us in on your injuries."

"I only know I got cracked ribs from being elbowed by a titan. I don't know about Deathbringer, but judging from the way he dragged himself out of the rubble, it looked pretty bad," Glory remarked, walking over, before gingerly checking his tail. Her look grew more and more concerned as she ran her talons along his tail. A brush of her talon over his hips awoke Deathbringer, who roared in pain, startling everyone. Glory, startled, jumped back, only to wince from the sudden movement.

"Hey, careful there! My hip's fucking fractured," Deathbringer protested, before turning his attention back to the scavengers. "What's with all these new soldiers? Did we win? What happened to that armored bastard?"

"Fractured hip and several dislocated bones in the tail, as well as severe bruising and abrasions," Glory announced grimly. "Can't believe you let yourself get thrown by that slow, lumbering beast. I thought you're a trained assassin."

"The best," Deathbringer grinned toothily. 

"I'm Commander Nile Dok of the Military police, and I'm here to arrest you three for being potential threats to the public," Commander Dok said.

"Again, I assure you that's not necessary. They're perfectly civil, and the boy hates titans, not humans," Pixis assured him, patting Dok on the shoulder, who pushed the hand away.

"Judging by the severe lack of soldiers elsewhere in the city, I can see that you two had something much more important to do than clearing out the remaining titans in the city. Several of more of my scouts had to die, and that's on top of those from our recent expedition," a new voice said.

"Ah, Commander Erwin. Why don't you join us for a nice conversation with the titan boy and our newest visitors," Pixis said with a warm smile.

"That boy sealed up the hole in Trost's southern gate according to my reports," Erwin said. "Is that true?" 

"Oh, it's completely true," Pixis assured Erwin. 

"What about these two dragons?" he asked.

"The rainbow one got injured fighting a titan and was out of commission for the rest of the battle. The black one you see lying like a pretzel held his own against the Armored Titan that shattered Shiganshina's inner gate. If my soldiers hadn't distracted him, he would have done more than just rip a leg off," Pixis said, apologetically. "Speaking of, sorry about letting my soldiers distract you. Definitely caused a lot more pain than was necessary."

"Don't sweat it, old scavvie. I had it coming for not being vigilant," Deathbringer replied.

"Say, can we spend a few days here healing up? All we need is food and water, and then we won't be of your concern any longer," Deathbringer continued.

"Oh, sure. We can accommodate you, as gratitude for helping us against the titan. Though I don't think all three regiments of the army can put together enough livestock for the two of you," Pixis replied.

"Don't worry about Glory. She's basically a plant," Deathbringer said with a grin. Pixis raised an eyebrow, looking at Glory, who just rolled her eyes.

"Vegetation is fine. Fruit preferable. Meat tastes bad," she said.

"Well then. It's settled. Commander Dok, get the death counts finalized, and report to the king. It's not your concern anymore, the Garrison and Survey Corps can handle it from here.

Nile looked like he wanted to protest, but just sighed, and turned tail.

"Looks like we'll be staying for a bit, Glory," Deathbringer said.

Glory just nodded in response. 


	6. Day Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can someone comment something? How can any of you read over 10 K words, and not have something to say?

While Glory was able to move around reliably after several more hours of sun exposure albeit with excruciating pain if she did anything more intense than a slow walk, Deathbringer couldn't do anything but lay on the ground. Glory had forced his tail back into alignment, with much protesting from Deathbringer and pained winces and grunts, and many, many curious sets of eyes. Eren and Mikasa had left already after a short reunion, having returned to the military bases to recuperate, but they would have time soon to talk and catch up.

"Hey! Ow, careful with that!" Deathbringer protested.

"You're the one who got his tail dislocated. It's going to hurt for me to put it back, you should know so much!" Glory huffed.

"I know, I know! I just want to complain, for the sake of complaining," Deathbringer whined, giving a yelp of pain as the last bone in his tail was shoved back into place.

"Whatever. Say whatever you need to say, just get it out your system," Glory said, rolling her eyes. "I don't think you fancy lying on this cold hard stone all day and night until your fracture heals enough for you to get back home, do you?"

Deathbringer thought for a second, then craned his neck, looking at his hind legs. Flexing his hind talons with a small wince, Deathbringer narrowed his eyes, clearly deep in thought and analysis. 

"How badly is it fractured?" Glory asked, mind buzzing with thoughts.

"Badly enough that I can't walk for a few days at least. I should be safe to move without worsening it after a good night's sleep. I should probably get comfortable where I am now," Deathbringer reported with a dry laugh, before letting his neck slacken, resting his weary head on the cobblestone

"We're going to be okay," Glory said to Deathbringer, but mostly to herself, trying to calm her frayed nerves.

"It's a given. Don't worry too much about me, I'll be fine. Just don't jostle me around," Deathbringer assured her. "How's your rib?" he asked, gingerly running a talon along her side, afraid to cause her pain, but wanting to feel her smooth scales.

"It's fine. It'd take a week or so to heal, but as you can see, I'm moving around already," Glory answered. She fidgeted with her talons, scales flashing the color Deathbringer learned long ago meant worry.

"What's on your mind?" Deathbringer asked.

"A lot," Glory answered vaguely.

"Do you want to elaborate?" Deathbringer asked, raising and eye ridge.

Glory looked at the human soldiers still gathered around, likely posted as guards to keep the duo safe from prying eyes and angry titans alike. Many had dispersed through the city to begin tallying the dead, and begin cleaning efforts. 

"Will the traitors be coming back?" Glory asked the human soldiers.

"Under our watch, no. We have thousands of soldiers in this district at the moment, from all 3 military branches. More units are going to arrive from the other districts," Commander Pixis assured her. "You and that black dragon are safe under our watch if that's your concern. Food is also being arranged for you two, as a token of gratitude, as we said earlier."

"Hi black dragon," Glory joked with a toothy grin. "I'm Glory."

"Oof, copying my jokes, are we?" Deathbringer replied with a roll of his eyes. He couldn't help but smile at her antics. "Well, Commander Pixie. You can call me Deathbringer."

Commander Pixis raised an eyebrow. "Is that your actual name, or just something you made up to sound cooler. Not that I'm complaining. Just out of curiosity."

"It's his actual name, believe it or not," Glory confirmed.

"Interesting," Pixis mused, thoughtfully stroking his mustache.

"Thanks again for the hospitality, and sorry for the inconvenience," Glory said. Pixis only shrugged, not seeming to mind. Her stomach rumbled, and she managed to look embarrassed, but only Deathbringer laughed. She readjusted her position and started to fish out the splinters that marred Deathbringer's body and licking and cleaning his wounds.

"So, how was it, fighting the Armored Titan?" Glory asked after a few moments of cleaning.

"I had that bastard," Deathbringer snarled, clenching his talons with frustration. "Could have ripped that traitor out. Just one moment's distraction and the tables turned on me," he huffed.

"If he didn't hurt you so bad, I would have thought it was comical the way he flung you around like a mere lizard," Glory chuckled, amused at Deathbringer's hurt expression.

"How did you do against him those years ago? You didn't tell me back at the cave," Deathbringer asked.

"Oh. I made the Armored Titan look like a fool. None of his attacks were anywhere near me, and after several rounds of blinding and stabbing, I ripped one of his arms off, and he retreated," Glory said.

Deathbringer smiled, proud of what a strong warrior his mate was, and somewhat jealous of her victory over that traitor. Glory looked warmly at him, before turning back to her task of cleaning out his surface wounds.

"Really makes me wonder what could have been if we fought him together," Deathbringer sighed. Glory nodded, a bit saddened.

"I know, Deathy. I wish I didn't get elbowed by that stupid titan. Then I'd be able to fight with you, and we'd be back in the rainforest by now, nothing would have been broken or bruised," Glory added. She nuzzled Deathbringer softly, and he returned the affectionate gesture.

"I wonder how Grandeur is handling things. Hopefully, my absence won't throw the entire Rainforest into disarray," Glory wondered.

"Even if she wasn't handling things the best, it's not like we're in a position to do anything. Besides, she's experienced. I bet she's tearing her wings off in frustration about all the petitions and stuff. Just relax and enjoy looking at me," Deathbringer replied smoothly.

"I'm already yours, Deathbringer. You don't need to lay in the moves," Glory replied with a smile.

"It will be sundown before the reinforcements from the nearest district will arrive with the food that we promised you. Is that alright?" Pixis cut in.

"We're happy for anything we can get," Glory said.

"Excellent. Say, before I leave, I have just one question," Pixis added. "I couldn't help but wonder if you were in an administrative position where you came from. Do pardon my eavsedropping. You don't have to answer if you're not comfortable, but if you don't mind my asking, can you clarify it? It'd change how the soldiers will treat you, as well as how you'll be received by the government if my suspicions are correct."

"Well, I suppose I've been hiding my true background long enough, I am Queen Glory of the Rainwings and Nightwings, and this klutz is Deathbringer, King of the Rainwings and Nightwings, as well as the head of the royal guard," Glory proudly announced.

"Fascinating. In that case, you'll be received as dignitaries of a foreign state. Welcome to Paradis, home of the last remaining humans," Pixis replied with a small bow of respect, before marching off to attend his other duties. "Enjoy your stay," he called back, voice echoing in the empty streets.

"Well, today was not what I expected," Deathbringer observed, watching Pixis march off. 

"You think?" Glory replied sarcastically, before sighing in exhaustion, and lying down gingerly next to Deathbringer, wrapping a comforting wing over him, knowing that he was still in pain, just good at hiding it.

"Sleep, my love," Glory whispered, before closing her eyes, ignoring the afternoon sun and drifting off herself, the exhaustion of the battle taking over like a blanket.

Her eyes shot open after what felt like just a mere moment. Exhaustion still wrapped her body like a blanket, and she closed her eyes again, the light considerably dimmer, but the sound of someone talking reached her sensitive ears.

"So these are the two dragons that fought the titans?" someone asked, voice wavering with doubt. "They look like glorified lovebirds to me."

Glory almost snorted in indignation, but kept still. 

"Yep, that's them. Only, I thought they'd be bigger, since according to witnesses, they took out almost 50 titans in just 2 hours! The only soldiers that can claim anywhere near as many kills are those of the Levi Squad, the elite of the elite!" another voice exclaimed. 

"That's impressive, but it's probably not true. Maybe the witnesses are tired or something," another voice muttered.

"None of that matters, comrades. We're here under Commander Pixis's orders. He promised them they'd be fed, and the food's here. Shame they're sleeping already. Can't fault them, heh. I'd be tired if I killed 46 titans too," another voice, carrying more authority than the others said.

"Well, we're going to be stationed here until midnight, so make yourselves comfortable. Tch, should never have left Ehrmich district, but Pixis ordered damn near everyone to Trost. Wait, didn't the witnesses also say these dragons can talk?" the first voice asked. 

Glory huffed, and opened her eyes, deciding now was the time to interrupt them.

"I was trying to sleep. So much for that," Glory muttered, yawning, purposefully flashing her pearly white fangs.

"So, where's the food?" Glory continued, gingerly getting onto her feet. She towered to her full height and gave them a toothy smile, relishing their varied reactions, from surprise and shock to fear. Deciding they weren't scared enough, she turned her scales black and red. She was satisfied with their reaction when they started backing up. 

"I take it back, they can definitely talk, and they're hungry," a soldier whimpered.

"Please don't eat us," another soldier whimpered.

A soldier pointed a thunder stick at her, a downsized version of the contraptions that failed to stop the Armored Titan at Shiganshina. "I don't care what the reports say, if you hurt my men, you pay!" he roared.

Glory tried to suppress her laughter, fearing it would cause severe pain, but she couldn't. Her loud laughs echoed down the deserted, rubble filled streets, startling the soldiers even more. Though, unlike during the battle, her ribs didn't explode in pain. Glory brought herself back under control, then craned her neck to look at where her fractured rib was in bewilderment. 

"I didn't know I could heal that fast. Not complaining though!" Glory thought out loud, testing her new range of motion. There was still a dull pain, and it was still fragile and sensitive, but Glory could do basic things without being in any major pain. 

_'Deathbringer is still asleep? I would have thought such a loud noise would wake up a light sleeper like him. Maybe his body is more hurt than I thought,'_ Glory pondered. 

"I'm not going to eat you, calm down, scavengers," Glory assured them, beelining straight for the wagon. The soldiers were still on edge, but were considerably more composed, so Glory decided to toy with them one last time, camouflaging with her surroundings. The humans all yelped and scattered, not knowing where the dragon left to. 

Flipping the tarp off, Glory was hit with the delicious smell of melons and apples, along with strange leaves that didn't look like anything she could find in the rainforest. The soldiers stared in bewilderment as the air shimmered, and from seemingly nowhere, a pink and yellow dragon started digging into the fruits and vegetables that they arrived with.

"Wha... how?" someone uttered.

"I'm just not going to bother," a soldier muttered, running his hands through his hair, before sitting down at a nearby crate and cleaning his gun. 

Never before had Glory relished food so much. Sure, she loved eating as much as any other dragon, but several hours of combat on just breakfast drained her energy, so here she was, digging into the food as fast as she could, hardly slowing down to chew. By the time her hunger was sated, the wagon sat nearly empty.

 _'Whoops. I think I got a bit carried away. I should have left some for Deathbringer. I've got him into Rainwing cuisine just a few weeks back. Speaking of Deathbringer,'_ Glory thought. "Where is the meat?"

"The meat? You'll have to wait until tomorrow morning. Livestock has been rare since the fall of Wall Maria halved the land humanity had available. The military police get the lion's share of the livestock the military is provided with, those spoiled bastards. All they do is fill out paperwork on the inside," a soldier informed Glory.

"Um, excuse me. Glory, was it?" a soldier shakily asked.

"Something I can help you with?" Glory asked.

"Leave the dragon alone, newbie," another soldier ordered.

"Don't mind him. What is it?" Glory continued, unfased.

"Is it true that you're royalty. It's what our commanding officer told us before we left Ehrmich District," the new soldier asked. 

"Yes. Why do you ask?" Glory responded curtly. 

"Just curious. Why would royalty, dragon royalty no less, concern themselves with our matters?" the soldier asked.

"Are you ungrateful for my help?" Glory responded, raising an eyeridge.

"No, not that. You misunderstand. We're eternally grateful for your aid. I just find it confusing that royalty would concern themselves with what happens in these outer districts, much less royalty from somewhere else. Our king never visits these outer districts. He hardly leaves the capital, if anything," the soldier replied. 

Glory snorted, much to the soldier's surprise.

"It was largely an accident that I ended up here, but I couldn't just do nothing as you humans died. It's a ruler's job to look after those downtrodden, is it not?" Glory responded, rather disgusted that the human king couldn't, or wouldn't look after his citizens.

"I wish. But our king is useless, fucking useless. He authorized the fruitless operation to send 100,000 to their deaths trying to take back the wall! My parents died when I was just 3, and it was my uncle that took me in, and he fucking died in that meaningless attempt to take back the wall!" the soldier ranted. "He couldn't even manage the refugee crisis. Oh, not enough funds my ass! The nobility and him all funneled it into their own pockets, then refused to pay the amount necessary to resituate those affected by the fall of Wall Maria!" the soldier continued, face growing red with fury.

Glory could only feel sympathy for the young human, but she wasn't really sure what to say. She wrapped the tip of her tail around the young human in a hug that would fit the tiny being.

"There isn't much you can do now but keep moving forward, and fight to preserve the memories of the ones you lost and fight to prevent such tragedies from happening again," Glory advised.

The soldier sniffled, then apologized. "Sorry about inconveniencing you, your majesty. I've been really stressed, and hearing that Trost got breached almost pushed me over the edge."

Glory nodded, before unfurling her tail, letting the soldier free of her embrace. The other soldiers were in complete silence. The only knowledge they had before hand was that the dragons wanted food, were superior to even the legendary soldiers in the Levi squad in terms of sheer fighting capability, and that they were able to talk. They hadn't expected royalty, nor humble and wise royalty at that.

Glory returned to sleep soon after, and the next morning was upon her and Deathbringer.

It was actually Eren who roused her from her sleep, having recovered from his battle rapidly due to his titan shifter nature.

Glory came to with something soft running over her snout. She almost sneezed, but held the desire under control as she huffed and opened her eyes, seeing the tiny human with eyes as green as hers.

"Good morning to you," Glory muttered as she yawned, stretching the sleep from her body. Her ribs protested, but she knew it wasn't a big deal. She looked around, noting that the square was empty, just Eren and Mikasa, along with a sleeping guard at the edge of the clearing. "Now, what about this log."

"Wakey-wakey," she said in Deathbringer's ears, which lead to his eyes opening the very instant the two words left her mouth.

"Yes! I'm up!" he yelped, trying to stand up, before painfully remembering he couldn't. He growled. "Damn that Armored bastard."

"Couldn't agree more. Food's ready," Glory replied, gesturing towards the two live cows tied at a pole nearby.

"Can you get them yourself, or does the great and mighty King of the Rainforest, best assassin in the world and head of the Royal Guard need me to get two cows for him?" Glory snidely remarked.

Deathbringer huffed, and tried to crawl towards the cows, but stopped due to sheer pain. "Three moons. I can probably get them, but it's too painful. Can you please get them?" Deathbringer sighed, admitting defeat.

"Not yet. Repeat what I said back to me," Glory remarked with a smirk. Deathbringer knew exactly what that smirk meant. He rolled his eyes and groaned in frustration.

"Fine. You win. The great and mighty King of the Rainforest, best assassin in the world, and the head of the Royal Guard needs you to get two cows for him," Deathbringer muttered, burning with embarrassment. 

"Much better," Glory remarked with a chuckle, before kissing him on the cheek and sauntering off to get the cows.

 _'She's taking her sweet time,'_ Deathbringer noted mentally. 

"So, Eren and Mikasa, right? Glory told me all about you two," Deathbringer said, trying to push down his unease at being so close to scavengers.

"She did?" Mikasa asked.

"You two are royalty? That's so cool!" Eren remarked excitedly. "Mikasa told me that Glory fought alongside us in the Battle of Trost, but it's a shame I missed most of it either passed out, carrying a boulder, or fighting."

 _'She tried getting the titans off of you in the square outside the military headquarters. Does being in a titan impair memory?'_ Mikasa pondered, staying silent, just enjoying the feeling of the red scarf Eren gave her years ago.

"Yep, we're royalty. Been married almost 2 years now. Good times," Deathbringer said.

"I can never understand how you find meat so delicious," Glory said, finally back from the great and perilous journey to obtain two cows. "Anyways, they're still alive, so end their suffering."

"Gladly," was all Deathbringer said before wringing their necks and biting in. "Mmm, delicious. Nothing like live food," he said between bites, blood dripping down his snout and onto the cobblestone below. 

"Have some manners. You don't want to remind these scavengers of a titan eating someone, do you?" Glory mentioned.

"Probably," Deathbringer said in a muffled voice, before swallowing the last remains of the first cow, eagerly moving onto the second one. 

Glory turned to Eren and Mikasa.

"So, how have you been? It's been quite a few years since I've last seen you, and you've grown so much, quite literally. I must say, 15 meters of fury is pretty scary," Glory said, tuning out the chomping and dripping occurring right next to her.

"Well, Mikasa and I joined the military, and we were about to select which branch of the military we wanted to join after 3 years of boot camp. We've had our eyes on the Survey Corps before Shiganshina fell, but before the ceremony could happen, the Colossal Titan showed up," Eren said.

"Oh, yeah. About the Colossal Titan, and the Armored Titan, they're actually titan shifters like you, and they're wielded by your fellow soldiers, Reiner is the Armored Titan, we know that for certain, don't know about the other one," Glory said. 

"Wait what?" Eren asked.

"It's true, Eren. Reiner is the Armored Titan. He fled after wounding Deathbringer," Mikasa confirmed. 

"You've got to be kidding me! There's no way he's the Armored Titan. I look up to him! He's always so strong and brave," Eren shouted.

Glory shook her head. If Eren was a word in human form, he'd be stubbornness. 

"Well, if you don't want to talk about that, that's fine. You have all the time to work it out in your head," Glory said. "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine," Eren muttered.

"Before we returned, Commander Pixis confirmed that Eren would be handed over to Commander Erwin of the survey corps. He will take part in the next expedition a few months from now. They believe the key he wears holds the key to this world, and the titans," Mikasa added.

"The secret to everything, huh?" Glory asked. "In a few months, you say? What about us, did the higher ups have anything to say about us?"

"Commander Pixis told them you were technically foreign dignitaries, so not under their jurisdiction until you actually commit a crime, which we have found no evidence of," Mikasa answered curtly.

"Ah. Well, in that case, after Deathbringer and I heal up, which should just be a few days, we'll be heading back to the Rainforest. I have a kingdom to run. We'll be back, provided you give us a time to return, and we can accompany the mission with you and Eren," Glory said.

"What if the Armored and Colossal Titan returns? We'll have no way to get ahold of you, and if Eren loses to them, I can't even begin to imagine how horrible that'd be," Mikasa asked, casting a worried look at Eren, who was pacing around.

"Nothing can be promised, but Deathbringer and I will need to return to the Rainforest soon. If we can get the timing sorted out for our return, that'd be best. Deathbringer still needs a week of recovery before he can fly properly without risk of rebreaking his hip, and he can't draw energy from the sun like me, so you and the rest of the military have time to come up with a solution."

Mikasa grimly nodded.


	7. Master Plan

Deathbringer stared wistfully at the lazy clouds swimming in the ocean blue sky above. He was still on his side. He technically could move, but it wasn't worth all the effort and pain to do so. Glory was about half a day's flight away from him, in one of the scavenger military bases, currently discussing timetables, the operation the scavengers have in the planning phase to take back the third wall from the mindless beasts, and other things of such. 

It'd been years since Deathbringer last felt this lonely, worried, and above all, afraid. 

_Afraid._

It didn't sit right with him. What was he even afraid of? The scavengers? They just weirded him out, but they didn't strike fear. Was it that Glory was so far away from him? Was he worried for her health and safety? Well, partly, but it didn't strike fear into him either. She was capable, and the scavengers were welcoming, if not reverant. Deathbringer didn't want to admit it, but it was after all, the mindless beasts outside. If scavengers, or humans, as they called themselves, weirded him out, the mindless beasts outside, strong, unpredictable, and savage, drove fear deep into his heart with the same precision and viciousness as the lightning bolt that killed his mother and created a hole in his heart that wouldn't be filled for the next 5 years. One that only Glory filled when he met her 3... no, 4 years ago. 

She was so far away. So, so far away. But he was here, in the ruins of a battlefield where countless died. Recovery and clean up efforts were still ramping up, as rubble was cleared, bodies tallied and burned (the soldiers in the neighborhoods nearest to him asked him to light some torches for them, so that they may burn the piles of the dead after tallying them). The boulder placed by Eren at the destroyed gate held strong, but the beasts were still outside. If they were to somehow get in again, Deathbringer was in no shape to fight, and that scared him. Not only that, Glory wasn't there, and that sheer loneliness and vulnerability made him _afraid_.

The Armored Titan was capable of climbing walls, and the Colossal Titan destroyed them with ease. They could kill him in the cover of night, and he'd be in no shape to do anything. Deathbringer started to hyperventilate as his mind ran paranoid. He needed Glory by his side. He was scared. The one who filled his heart with joy, and his mind with ease. She wasn't here. He needed her. He was scared. He was vulnerable.

Deathbringer, in his despair, turned to conversing with scavengers to keep his fears and anxiety at bay. 

Glory sat in the corner of the courtroom, having snuck in with her impeccable camouflage, watching the drama unfold. Despite what Mikasa said about Commander Pixis assuring that Eren would be joining the Scout Regiment, he was still undergoing a trial, mostly to satisfy the public. The rumors had gotten quite absurd, and the entire populace within the walls was uneasy about the titan among them, as well as the dragons. Needless to say, the outcome of the trial was clear. Nonetheless, it was quite entertaining, and Glory was impressed with Eren's willpower and drive to accomplish his goals, as made evident in his monologue. Though she didn't really see Levi's assault on Eren as necessary, if it gave them the public opinion, they'd do it. It was entertaining at the end of the day, and gave her a view into the world of scavenger politics and processes. Glory was grateful that Erwin permitted her attendance, though she wasn't allowed to show herself. 

A short while later, after Supreme Commander Zackley all the witnesses and Military Police left the Scouting Headquarters, all that were left were the scouts, Eren, and Glory. A few guards stood watch atop the castle walls, relaxed. Glory wished her Rainwings were half as vigilant as these relaxing guards. Erwin led a battered Eren to an empty courtyard, along with Levi and Hange Zoë.

Hange Zoë started asking Eren questions right off the bat, examining him like a doctor, which Eren reluctantly agreed to all her orders. Glory shifted out of her camouflage, scales shimmering until it was her usual shade of green and blue, with red riffs and purple highlights on her wings. The guards yelped in surprise at the dragon that seemingly materialized out of nowhere like a titan minus the lightning. It was only until they realized the commander knew all along that they stopped panicking. 

"I have to say, Eren. I'm quite impressed with your speech," Glory told him as Hange inspected the inside of his mouth. 

"Sorry about that, Eren. It was just a show to get the military police and the public to at least reluctantly support your presence. The Garrison and Supreme Commander were already in support. Thank you, Eren. For putting up with that, and aiding the Scouting Regiment with your strength," Erwin said with a smile, before squatting and holding out his hand.

Glory watched as the two clasped paws and shook. 

"What do you call that gesture?" Glory asked.

"A handshake. It mustn't be one of your customs, Glory. No worries, I'll explain. A handshake is to show agreement, a sign of friendship and cooperation," Hange said, before turning back to checking over Eren for injuries, and writing observations in her notes. "I wonder what the dragon equivalent is," Hange mused. 

Glory snorted, racking her mind for dragon equivalents. 

_Curling your tail? That's too intimate. Brushing wings?_

"I don't really think there's a dragon equivalent. It's either too intimate, or something like nodding your head," Glory answered.

Hange hummed in acknowledgement. 

"I can understand using Levi to beat the crap out of Eren, but throwing him in a cell overnight? Was that really necessary?" Glory asked.

"It might not have been as helpful for our case as Levi, but it was just to sway their opinion. I'll admit in hindsight, it probably wasn't the best thing. Eren, the guards didn't mistreat you, did they?" Erwin asked. 

"Oh, they didn't. Don't worry about me," Eren answered.

"Anything interesting happen?" Hange asked.

"No. Just me and this key," Eren said, rubbing his temples. 

"What about this key?" Glory asked. 

"Oh, he must have not told you yet. He's already told us," Levi cut in.

Glory raised an eye ridge.

"Do tell," she said.

"This key is my father's key to his basement. He promised he'd show me what was inside. But after Shiganshina fell, and we fled, my father gave me one last order before he gave me an injection that caused memory loss, and vanished. To always keep the key on me, and to recapture Wall Maria, and return to the basement at all costs. He said that I'll learn the truth when I reach the basement," Eren responded, eyes swimming with thoughts and tears. 

"It's convenient that his goal to reach the basement and ours to recapture Wall Maria line up so well. Hange and I believe that his father's basement will hold the truth about these titans, and the entire global structure. Why humanity lives in these walls. Why titans exist. Why they eat humans, and nothing else. Everything," Erwin added.

"So, let me get this straight. This key, Eren, is the key to the secret of these titans, and the global structure, no pun intended?" Glory asked, eye ridge raised in doubt.

"I swear, I'm telling the truth," Eren confirmed.

Glory just paced, contemplating, while the rest of the Scouting Regiment stood at attention in the castle courtyard.

"Just to make sure, in the upcoming expedition, your plan is to make a mad charge for Shiganshina, and have Eren's Titan plug up the two holes?" Glory asked.

Erwin nodded.

Glory sighed.

"That's very risky. What if the Armored Titan or the Colossal Titan appear again? We already know Reiner is the Armored Titan, and he is currently somewhere out there," Glory continued. 

"That is where you and Deathbringer come into our plans. We're sure that if we pooled our resources and manpower for this one huge offensive, we'll be able to retake Wall Maria, and find his basement. Your fighting prowess and firepower are sure to reduce losses significantly, and we already know you do excellent against the Armored Titan."

"What of the other two traitors?" Glory asked.

"Bertholdt and Reiner disappeared. Annie maintained her innocence after being caught in a nearby district. A trial by jury found her innocent after Marco claimed she looked distraught, and she herself claimed she was being blackmailed by Reiner and Bertholdt," Erwin said. 

Glory snorted. "They're still suspicious in my books. Don't be surprised if Annie turns out to be a traitor after all. 

"The tooth that Levi knocked out grew back already!" Hange squealed with excitement. "I must investigate this!"

"Is healing that fast normal for humans?" Glory asked. 

"Of course not! Eren's already 15, so he'd have his adult set of teeth, which don't regrow. That must mean he has a regeneration ability!" Hange postulated, jotting notes as fast as her hands could allow. 

"Dragons don't have this adult set of teeth that you're talking about. If it falls out, it regrows. Also, Eren's already 15?" Glory asked.

"Yeah, I'm 15. What's so surprising?" Eren asked.

"I thought you were like 5 or 6 years old, since it looks like you're almost an adult," Glory said. 

"What?!" Eren shouted, indignantly. "Are you trying to insinuate that I'm immature or something?"

"No?" Glory asked, confused.

"You said he looks like he's almost adult. Which is true, since we legally become adults at 18 years of age," Erwin cut in.

"18?" Glory asked. "That's a long time to become an adult."

"How old are you?" Erwin asked.

"9 years old," Glory answered curtly.

"9!?" Hange asked. "Perhaps dragons age differently, or maybe years are longer where you came from. Oh there's so much I want to ask you!"

"When do dragons become adults?" Erwin asked.

"7 years old," Glory answered.

"Makes sense," Erwin said.

"With that nonsense out of the way, that leaves just one last thing that we need to get sorted out. We're going to need a specific date for us to return. Deathbringer and I have a kingdom to run, and we've been gone for 3 or so days now," Glory said, pacing. "I'm not sure how long Grandeur can keep the forest in once piece. Hopefully the whole place hasn't gone up in flames while I'm trying to help you guys."

"30 days from now. That is when the operation begins. Meet the scouting corps at Trost district, the one you helped save," Erwin ordered.

"You have no way of contacting us before then. So don't get yourselves in a tangle with the traitors. Keep an eye out on Annie. We'll have more time today to iron out the exact way you want the operation to turn out, but after that, you can't change anything unless you want to reduce our effectiveness," Glory replied. Erwin nodded agreement.

"Tsk. I can always kill more titans than you," Levi huffed.

"Maybe, but Deathbringer and I are on equal footing with the Armored Titan. Are you?" Glory asked.

"Maybe not, but the engineers can always make something. It's not like their big brains are used for anything else besides developing sheer destructive power and improving our fighting chances," Levi shot back.

"Eren, don't do anything stupid while I'm gone," Glory ordered Eren, to which he nodded.

"Eren, tell me more about this power. Your memories, or lack thereof. How it feels inside. How do you transform? Tell me everything!" Hange squealed. 

Glory rolled her eyes, preparing for a long conversation. Tonight she'd leave the scout headquarters, and by morning she would be with Deathbringer again. 

_'30 days from now.'_

"Glory! Glory! Thank goodness you're alright!" Deathbringer shouted gleefully, bowling Glory over.

"You suck at healing slowly, Deathy," Glory responded dryly, before kissing him deeply. "Miss me much?"

"Yeah, a lot. I think we're good to head back. What do you say? Ready for some chaos back home?" Deathbringer asked.

"You bet," Glory responded with an eye roll. The duo took off into the dimming sky, as a few human soldiers watched onward, their wingbeats gradually growing distant. 

_'29 days.'_


	8. Reflections

"Alrighty, Deathy. You get a day off from everything, really. You're free to do whatever you want, just don't burn the rainforest down or kill some dragon. You've more than earned it," Glory told Deathbringer as the pair started tree gliding towards the Rainwing village. Deathbringer just nodded, panting slightly from the exertion of tree-gliding.

"Any objection?" Glory asked, noting Deathbringer's condition. Deathbringer shook his head in response.

"Alright. You can leave now if you want, though I suppose you'll want to see Grandeur complain. Down for a prank?" Glory chuckled, the Rainwing village becoming visible through the maze of trees. Deathbringer nodded, mirroring her mischievous grin. She slowed down significantly, shifting into her camouflage.

"Next!" Grandeur muttered, lazily waving the petitioner away, eyelids drooping like a tree was hanging off each one.

"Erm, your majesty. That was the last of them," a rainwing guard reminded Grandeur. Grandeur was jostled from her daze. 

_'Huh? What?'_ Grandeur hazily thought. The dragon's droning about poison dart frogs nearly bored her to death. _'Where is that moons-blasted dragon?!'_

Grandeur always had her secretary place more urgent petitions towards the start of the court, which ran from right after sun time to the first hints of sundown, so about 3 hours. Mornings and evenings were personal work and relax times for Grandeur. That was her schedule when she was queen. Though, she shouldn't even need to be handling any work or court, since Queen Glory ascended to the throne some years ago, bringing about a complete 180 on the complacency the Rainwing tribe had descended into, as well as an end to the queen rotation system. But Glory apparently had some other things to do that required Grandeur to substitute as queen years after the fact. Worse still, she took Deathbringer with her. Ever since he married Glory 2 years ago, he took up a significant amount of duties too. That meant two dragon's worth of work was dumped onto Grandeur. It wouldn't have been too bad, Glory said she'd only be gone a day or two at most, but here Grandeur was, a week later, wanting to burn the rainforest down. 

Grandeur groaned as she stood up, old joints creaking from the sudden motion. She was past her prime, and far too old and grumpy to deal with the court. 

"How many days has it been since Queen Glory left?" Grandeur asked the guard. He looked at her quizzically, then started counting on his talons. "6 or 7 days, I think, your majesty," he replied a few moments later.

"I'm going to give Glory a good thrashing when she crawls back. She should know better than to put her grandmother through all this nonsense," Grandeur growled. 

The sound of flapping drew Grandeur from her frustrations momentarily. She craned her neck to see, surprisingly, the dark form of King Deathbringer landing on the pavilion. 

"Deathbringer, what a pleasant surprise. Do tell me my dear granddaughter is with you," Grandeur hissed. Deathbringer only flashed a signature grin.

"Look, I'm really not in the mood to be pranked," Grandeur groaned.

"Aw shucks. Well, there goes your wonderful plan, Glory," Deathbringer called out, still grinning. The only thing that replied was the rainforest ambiance. The lazy buzzing of bugs and whooshing of leaves and flowers where a dragon should have spoken. "Uh oh."

Grandeur glared at Deathbringer. "Don't look at me like that, granny. It was her plan, I swear," Deathbringer said, holding up his talons non confrontationally. 

"Where is Glory? It's not even funny anymore. I legitimately can't handle dealing with braindead dragons. That's her job, not mine. I retired years ago!" Grandeur grumbled. 

"Yeah, about that," Glory said, materializing next to Deathbringer.

"About what? Don't tell me you plan on disappearing for another week in the future. Get someone else to do your job. I've covered for you twice," Grandeur shot back. Glory's look told Grandeur everything. 

Grandeur sighed deeply, sitting down on her haunches, deep in thought. "Look, I apologize for snapping at you two, but I really don't think I can keep my sanity if I have to cover another week for you two in the future. I was done being queen years ago," Grandeur muttered, looking Glory right in the eyes.

Glory and Deathbringer nodded, a bit muted from their high spirits.

"Where are you two even going? You said one to two days, and you come back 5 days late as if nothing happened. There's something going on that I don't know about, and I can tell you two, that no matter how bored or frustrated I was dealing with lousy petitioners, it pales in comparison to how much I worried about why you two weren't coming home," Grandeur continued. Deathbringer and Glory looked at each other, having a mental debate about whether or not to tell Grandeur. 

"It's not even the lousy petitioners. There is a dynamic world outside the rainforest, 5 other tribes to deal with, not to mention domestic affairs beyond petitioners. The Rainwings grow directionless, and the Nightwings restless when you and Deathbringer are gone," Grandeur continued, her aged voice carrying a depth and concern few dragons could replicate. "I might be a qualified dragon to substitute, but it is just that. A substitute. It's you two. You two together carry a unique presence that keeps the rainforest and its neighbors in a careful prosperous balance."

Glory nodded, suddenly interested in the floor. "Let's discuss this further in a more private space. It's clear to Deathbringer and I that we have some things to be filled in on, as well as some explaining to do."

Grandeur led the pair away from the wooden pavilion suspended in the trees towards her wooden hut, tucked away in a corner of the rainwing village. It would provide the trio the privacy to carry on their conversation. Glory twined tails with Deathbringer, looking at him to assure him, nodding slightly to indicate that she can handle the talking.

"Let's start with what happened in the rainforest while Deathbringer and I were on a... an adventure, if you will," Glory started.

"Besides what I already told you about general unrest, as well as the rainwings starting to stagnate again, your friend Princess Tsunami actually visited carrying a message from Queen Coral, regarding the possibility of setting up a village in the southern deltas to foster relations between your kingdom and the Sea Kingdom," Grandeur said. "There's also a request from the Mudwings for several shipments of assorted herbs and other medical supplies, in exchange for mud bricks that would no doubt benefit the Nightwings in speeding up their construction of a town square down on the forest floor. Unfortunately, I had to ask both to be put on hold until you returned."

Glory nodded, running through the pros and cons of the two new offers in her head. Granted, there were few cons, but she wanted to maximize the benefits to both sides, and that would require further consideration and details. How much were the Mudwings willing to give in return for the herbs? Where would the new village be built? 

"Sandwings passed a new law, a new classroom in Jade Mountain, and a lot of other stuff in letters that I didn't bother to remember. It's all here," Grander continued, gesturing to a modest pile of unsealed letters.

"Deathbringer, why don't you go sort those into two piles. Important, and unimportant," Glory asked.

"I thought it was my day off," Deathbringer cheekily grinned. Glory just snorted, and Deathbringer started reading the scrolls, and two piles started growing. 

"I'm assuming you two ran off to have some personal fun? That would be a frivolous reason, so do tell me I'm wrong," Grandeur started.

"Deathbringer and I don't need to be gone for a week if that were what we wanted. It's kind of hard to describe where we went, and you probably wouldn't believe it until you went, which I don't recommend. But um, yeah. We went somewhere and what did we do? I suppose hunting or fighting would be good terms for what we did," Glory mused.

"Fighting or hunting what?" Grandeur asked.

"That would be hard to describe without making you think we went insane. Just know that our opponents were strong enough to fracture my ribs and Deathbringer's hip. Don't ask why, but we healed way faster than normal for some reason," Glory answered. 

"You young dragons just went on a hunting trip?" Grandeur asked. 

"More or less, yeah," Glory answered, debating whether or not it would be wise to tell her that they were really serving as part-time protectors. 

"That's the reason for the absence? You two went hunting of all things, which is pointless enough. You two then got hurt somehow. You, the most skilled Rainwing since the warriors of my days, and a trained Nightwing assassin?" Grandeur asked, raising an eye ridge.

"It sounds a lot more embarrassing when you put it that way," Glory muttered.

"I second that. I totally did not get distracted while fighting something three times my size and covered in armor," Deathbringer added, head still buried in the scroll he was reading through.

"WHAT?!" Grandeur shouted. "I don't know of a single creature that is three times the size of an adult dragon! Where in Phyrria did you two moons-blasted morons go!!!???"

Glory cursed internally. Why couldn't Deathbringer just keep his handsome, kissable snout shut?

"The lost continent. Reliable contact hasn't been set up with the dragon tribes there yet, and animals there might not be common knowledge here. Deathbringer and I just found a shortcut there, and we got hurt. It was just a vacation sort of thing," Glory lied. hoping the answer would satisfy Grandeur.

Grandeur looked at Glory, gaze piercing as if she could read minds. 

"If that is so, why do you two find it necessary to return, and risk getting hurt? If you two want to go to that moons-forsaken place again, don't have me substitute for something so frivolous. End of story," Grandeur growled, before sweeping up all the scrolls that Deathbringer had been reading, stuffing it into his talons, and shooing the two out the door.

"I just finished separating the two piles! Now I'll have to do it all over," Deathbringer pouted.

"Do it at home. Good night to you two," Grandeur grumbled, before rolling down the leaf net at the top of her doorway.

"Sheesh, talk about grumpy," Deathbringer sneered. "Can't blame her though. Court truly is the most horrendous thing that can happen to a dragon. Wouldn't you agree, Glory?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah," Glory said absentmindedly, still thinking. 

The duo leaped off the platform that was Grandeur's humble abode and started flying towards the royal hut, near the center of the village. 

"What are you thinking about?" Deathbringer asked.

"A lot of things, I guess. Was lying to Grandeur the right thing to do? Who would substitute for us when we go carry out Erwin's plan to retake the walls. We're up against quite some odds, you know. A lot of variables and factors we can't account for. Chances are we'll be there for much longer than this time since his plan encompasses many things," Glory said. 

"Quite the philosopher you are, dear," Deathbringer chuckled. "I suppose I'll have to resort these scrolls before we call it a night, yeah?"

"Yep," was all Glory said.

"Great," Deathbringer grumbled, drawing out the word.

Glory shuffled around on the platform in the pavilion she called the court, trying to find a more comfortable position. Unfortunately, she found none. Alas, she could bear with it, it was the end of the court. Like Grandeur, she had the petitioners sorted by importance, so right now, she was listening to the ramblings of a dragon asking for love advice. 

_'Good grief, how does that happen? I thought I had a dragon sort out the ones that should receive my attention,'_ Glory grumbled internally.

There were some meaningful petitions at the start of the court. A new school, one with both Rainwings and Nightwings. Renovating some huts. That sort of stuff. Love advice is just unacceptable. But, if the dragon wanted to talk about it so hard, Glory would lend an ear. It's not her fault if everything goes out the other ear, though. 

_'Eren's titan. From what I recall, Eren used his form to brute force titans into submission. I wonder what would happen if he and the Armored Titan were to tangle. I hope that doesn't happen while I'm gone. It would be a prospect to see how humans fight, just scaled up. That goes into Erwin's plan. Eren, along with Deathbringer and I are cornerstones of his plan. Each of us constitutes the same titan killing potential as a whole squadron of soldiers. So much to think about. A mad dash for Shiganshina, to secure the wall and find the secrets Eren believes are in there. I wonder what we'll find. All in due time, I suppose. I wonder how preparations are going on the other side. Hopefully, their cruddy king actually gives them the necessary resources and manpower for this dash. Though, their fight for survival seems to be a losing battle. Erwin's confident that Deathbringer and I can cut losses, which I agree with, but there are too many variables to say how effective we would be. What if there are other shifters? I should probably consider that a possibility. Anything's a possibility over there, ha! Deathbringer and I should definitely train. I'll talk to him about that tonight,'_ Glory wandered internally, completely tuning out the world.

"Your majesty!" the dragon shouted.

Glory snapped back to the real world from her jumbled thoughts, her gaze landing on the dragon before her. He seemed to shrink slightly, afraid of the queen's wrath. Shouting wasn't respectful after all, but after trying and failing to get her attention a few times, it was a last resort.

"I need advice. I've just finished telling you everything, but you weren't listening, were you?" the dragon said, shrinking further.

"At ease. Sorry, your whole story was convoluted. Just give me a summary, 20 words or less," Glory said, unwilling to see her subject so tense.

"Ah. Um, so my mate and I got into an argument over whether or not we should change careers," the dragon said. 

Glory started laughing. The dragon only raised an eye-ridge.

"Do excuse my laughter. It isn't meant to be disrespectful, but it seems my mind has made a connection I failed to see prior," Glory managed out, taking deep breathes to try to rein in her amusement, before chuckling again. Another set of deep breathes, and she finally reined herself in.

"I believe you and your mate would do well with some time off from whatever your career is. Leave the rainforest," Glory said, before pausing.

The dragon seemed to blanch for a second, his scales flashing a worried green.

"For a week. A vacation, take some time off to evaluate your careers, and make a decision with that extra time," Glory smiled, thinking back to her and Deathbringer's little break from royal duties.

The dragon's face lit up with relief and understanding. "Your insight is most valuable, your majesty," the dragon said, bowing, before turning and flying off.

"Remember, queen's orders!" Glory shouted after the dragon. It would still be an hour before the sun begins to set, Glory noted, looking at the position of the sun in the sky, but that was the last dragon of court for today. She could use the extra time, truth be told. _'_

 _Now, what would Deathbringer be doing right now?'_ Glory asked herself, standing up and stretching, relishing the pops of her joints. _'Still need to find a replacement for our final foray into the world of titans. Who knows how long the operation will last.'_

 _'Rest days are kind of overrated. It's exceptionally boring,'_ thought Deathbringer as he trudged along the undergrowth. Glory literally forced him to get outside and do anything besides guarding her and helping her with the paperwork. She'd said that the last week was stressful for him, so he should take some time to decompress. Deathbringer didn't want to admit, even to himself, that he was worried the past few days, and that they were safer here in the rainforest than anywhere else. Deathbringer's position as head of the royal guard had seen dozens of highly trained guards enter service under Deathbringer's mentorship the past few years. There was no safer time since Queen Glory ascended to the throne around the end of the Sandwing Wars of Succession. _'Stop thinking that. Just enjoy the time off, don't aggravate your newly healed body, and vibe. Wait, what's that?'_

Deathbringer looked to the right, hearing some sounds. He sniffed, then a grin split his face. 

_'Ah, just a boar, and just in time,'_ Deathbringer thought hungrily. Silencing his footsteps, it wasn't long before Deathbringer's nose led him to his prey, a young male boar. Building up a fire in his chest, a precise and short bolt of flame flew forth, setting the animal ablaze. In its pain and agony, the boar couldn't respond to the quick talon that plunged itself into the poor animal's spine, severing the connection between the heart and the brain, bringing a quick death that spared it further agony. 

Deathbringer pulled out his talon as fast as it dove in, avoiding the pain of the flames. Dousing the flames some dirt, he picked the boar up and shook off the dirt. Some mild burns marred its body along with residual dirt, so Deathbringer dunked it in a nearby stream before feasting. Hunger sated, Deathbringer sat at the stream's shore and wondered what to do. Absentmindedly grabbing a berry from a nearby bush, Deathbringer continued his directionless trek through the rainforest. He was startled from his pleasant walk by the taste of the berry. Looking at his talons, he noticed it was a strawberry. He looked back where he came, then an idea came to mind. 

_'It's been a decent while since Glory introduced me to fruits. Can't really say the rest of the Nightwing populace has accepted fruits yet. Perhaps some prodding on my end might be the final push,'_ Deathbringer thought. Flapping towards the Rainwing settlement to get a woven satchel, Deathbringer was determined to introduce the rest of his tribe to the glory of strawberries. Then there was the long process of picking strawberries, but it just meant he'd have time to process recent events, as if lying on the ground for several days on end, waiting for his body to heal weren't enough time. 

_'Have recent events changed Glory in any way? Have they changed me?'_ Deathbringer mused, thinking back to his time in the other world.

 _'Well for one, scavengers don't freak me out as much anymore. I've kinda just accepted that them for what they are. It might have to do with something bigger replacing them. Moons blasted titans. Grandeur wouldn't be so pissy, and maybe even open to substitute us again when we re-enter the portal for Erwin's final plan. Glory filled me in on that, but some of the finer details are still evading me. I'll have to ask her tonight. All I know is it's some kind of all or nothing deal,'_ Deathbringer concluded as he entered the house of one of the more respected fruit pickers, Banana Slug. It's funny, considering the Rainwing bearing this name hates bananas and works as fast as a Skywing can fly. 

"Howdy, your majesty," Banana Slug greeted Deathbringer, dipping his head in respect. "What can I do ya for?"

"Slug, I fancy a woven satchel for personal purposes. I plan on introducing some Nightwings to strawberries," Deathbringer replied. 

"An honorable cause. Here ya go," Banana Slug chuckled, handing Deathbringer a satchel that fits snugly over his neck, large enough to carry a yearling dragonet.

"Thank you. Remind me to pay you back sometime," Deathbringer said as he turned around. 

"Consider it thanks," Banana Slug replied.

"For what?" Deathbringer asked.

"When these Nightwings try fruit, I guarantee at least some will like it. It just means more business for me," Banana Slug replied.

"So I'm the advertisement?" Deathbringer asked, to which Banana Slug nodded. Deathbringer smiled. "Sly dragon. Have a good day."

"You too, your majesty!"

 _'No doubt integrating Nightwings food-wise will improve relations between the two halves of our kingdom,'_ Deathbringer mused, testing the satchel now resting on his chest. _'Alright, into the forest to find fruits. Not the hallucinogenic types. I have no doubt the Nightwings will have my head mounted on a spike if I convinced them to eat hallucinogenic berries.'_

Deathbringer had accidentally ingested a hallucinogenic berry in the past; Rainwings already knew to steer clear of that type of berry. However, Deathbringer was still new to the forest at the time, relatively speaking. As in he'd been there a few months already. While under its effects, according to Glory, he confessed his love for her. In the end, it worked out for him, since he's now married two years to the love of his life, so there would be no complaints from him.

Deathbringer examined the bush in front of him, trying to recall the name of the berry, before huffing and picking a handful and dropping it into his satchel. There were dozens of edible berries, and Deathbringer only memorized the ones with side effects, so as long as they weren't on that list, Deathbringer would drop them into his satchel. So began the tedious process of filling up his satchel.

 _'So, Glory and I flew out into the piece of glass perched on a wall that we call a portal. The sun was setting then, and we exit, and it was late afternoon. Glory said that Commander Erwin's plan would be set into motion 30 days from when she left him. She met up with me the next morning. Following the logic, it'd mean today, today is the 28th day, on that 1-month countdown, I think. I hope I'm right. It'd suck to be 1 day late in his operation,'_ Deathbringer calculated. That's the thing about counting days or anything that involves a "now." It's always so difficult to wrap one's head around. If today is day x, then how long ago was day y? Not as easy as x-y, unfortunately. One has to account for the "now", and that extra step infuriates Deathbringer to no end. 

_'Erwin, Erwin, Erwin. I never got his last name, if scavengers even do that. Funny thing is, I didn't even know about this concept of the last name until I visited the human world. They're always like Eren Jaeger this, Mikasa Ackerman that. The closest equivalent I can think of is Bringer being my last name and Death being my first, as per Nightwing naming convention, which usually sticks two words together. Or maybe like Banana Slug, where it's actually 2 words separately. But most, if not all dragons have a name that is just one word,'_ he continued musing, recalling his time in the human world. His mind suddenly lit up.

 _'Oh, their homes and cities. The way it was planned with grids, town squares, centers of control, troop garrisons, and even the structures themselves. Wooden frames with brick or stone walls, as well as stone floors._ _We used to have that planned structure too, within the caves on that rotting island, but that's history. I think the Nightwings would fancy some central planning for their village._ _I recall the only other tribe to do anything similar to this would be the Skywings. Chances are the Icewings did the same thing but with ice and nothing but ice, however I could never know unless I actually visited, which will never happen. Any dealings with the Icewings would be done with a delegation from their end sent to the rainforest. They would never stop complaining,'_ Deathbringer shuddered, remembering all the complaints the Icewings had, how their scales were ruined, how stuffy the air was, how muddy the ground was, how undisciplined the guards were, etc. If there were any tribe as whiny as they were deadly fighters, it would be the Icewings. 

_'Speaking of deadly fighters, there's Armored Titan. I never got to see Eren's titan in combat, but the Armored Titan. That's a whole different story,'_ Deathbringer thought back to his fight to the death with the Armored Titan, no holds barred. He needed to analyze the fight. He needed to improve. _'I pounced on him, throwing my entire weight onto a being balanced on just two limbs. I clenched my talons for grip while injuring the titan's white-furred head. Moons blasted abomination managed to stabilize himself. I ditched the tackle attempt and backed up, but not fast enough. That's when he injured my tail, but I was able to weasel out of his grip. I have to congratulate my next move. Blinding the titan temporarily while it threw a rotational strike meant I was able to bring it down by pulling a leg. Turned around quickly, giving it a whip strike to the side of its jaw with my tail. So now I was on top of the opponent, and my tail is facing his top end. I walked forward, placed my hind talons on his knee, and pulled up at what I believe are its ankles. Scavenger anatomy is weird, to say the least. Impromptu kneebar on a dazed opponent. Obviously it worked, breaking the knee, but it wouldn't work if the Armored Titan was anything less than nearing unconsciousness and unable to respond, due to the sheer size and strength difference. I tore the lower leg off after I broke the knee joint, bless these sharp talons. But those human soldiers whizzing around distracted me and gave the titan the precious time it needed to recover its senses and grab me. It held on tight, and there wasn't anything I could do by then. It swung me around like a parent would a dragonet that wanted to be twirled. Glory was watching too. If I had to be honest, her watching hurt more than the fact that my hip broke.'_

Deathbringer chuckled grimly. _'Well, what did I learn? Use your talons, and wrestling moves only if the opponent is unable to respond. Oh, and that concentrated fire. Tore through the armor like lightning through my mother. Don't get distracted during a fight until the opponent is finished. I wonder if I can choke out a titan shifter? Probably better to not find out on the battlefield.'_

 _'Wait. Wait wait wait,'_ Deathbringer thought, alarmed. _'So, if my hip was broken so badly I couldn't move my entire lower body for several days, even with that quintupled rate of healing, the thing is I was on my side the whole time. What if the bones didn't heal properly. Knowing the important stuff that happens in that section of the body, it'd suck if an improperly healed hip removed my ability to sire dragonets.'_

Deathbringer pulled the satchel half-filled with fruits over his head and placed it on the ground. He looked over and gingerly prodded the upper side of his hindquarters first, making sure the bones there felt symmetrical and accurate to the anatomy diagrams drilled into his head by his mother as part of his assassination training. Both in how to break, and repair. Deathbringer was as skilled at hurting as he was at fixing, which was to say very. He then flopped onto his side, careful to not roll onto his wings. He gently prodded the soft flesh of his underbelly, making sure there were no abnormalities. He breathed a huge sigh of relief that everything felt normal. Nothing out of place on the underside. The upper side felt fine but tilted a few degrees off-center, probably from being on the side those few days spent healing. That didn't make sense though. The bones weren't set into place by anyone else, so how would they return to a near-perfect position, even though he spent days healing lying exclusively on one side. He shoved the thought down. No use thinking about it. It happened, and he's fine. No complaints, no extra thoughts. He returned to the task at hand, getting more fruits to introduce to the Nightwings.

 _'Obviously I don't know the fine details of Erwin's plan, just the general just. A lot of carrying on our end, if I had anything to say. The best hope is we come out unscathed,'_ Deathbringer thought, envisioning happiness and rainbows on the other side of the last leg of this adventure, but a part of him told him this was unlikely, and Deathbringer pushed the thought down like he did the Armored Titan. He just hoped it wouldn't come back to break his ass like it did last time. 

Glory went looking for Deathbringer, starting in the Rainwing village. However, he was not at their residence, so she started to wonder what Deathbringer was up to. To say she was pleasantly surprised when she found him at the Nightwing village sharing fruits and encouraging his fellow tribemates to give Rainwing cuisine a try would be... accurate. She camouflaged herself and watched the scene for a few moments.

"Are you sure you don't want to try strawberries? Peacemaker over there has loved them since day one," Deathbringer said to a young dragonet sitting before him, head cocked.

"Yeah, well he's half rainwing. Besides, daddy said that Rainwing food is icky and gross," the dragonet challenged.

"Oh, come on. Is my recommendation of this fruit not enough to get you to even give it a taste?" Deathbringer asked. 

"Yeah, I'm sure. Besides, the little things on its surface look weird," the dragonet said, making a face. Glory saw Deathbringer's face scrunch up slightly as he dug through the satchel of fruits he obtained. She'd have to ask him later how he got it. For now, the best guess would be he paid a local fruit picker.

"Here, try this," Deathbringer said, picking up an orange. The dragonet tried to grab the orange from Deathbringer's talons, but he kept it out of reach.

"Hold your horses, little one. I still need to peel it, otherwise, you're going to hate me," Deathbringer warned. The little one calmed down as Deathbringer sliced the orange open, and shed the tough skin. The dragonet oohed at the interior of the orange.

"You see this? This is the portion you can eat. Look at it! It's shaped like a talon and the same color as lava. Isn't that cool?" Deathbringer asked, knowing the dragonet ate based on looks.

"Yeah, that's cool! Come on, let me taste it!" The dragonet growled playfully. Deathbringer chuckled, and tossed it up, watching the dragonet catch it in his mouth. His eyes bulged.

"Wow!" the dragonet exclaimed. "This is awesome. Can I have more?"

"Sure, knock yourself out," Deathbringer said, grinning.

Glory smiled at Deathbringer. Seeing him interact with the little dragonet made her heart flutter a little bit. He'd make a good father. Glory frowned.

 _'Did I think that?'_ Glory wondered. It seemed like a sudden jump for her, to suddenly want to have dragonets with him. Well, it wasn't really surprising. She was already married to him for 2 years, though the thought never seriously crossed her mind till now. 

Glory looked at Deathbringer, watching him continue to introduce fruits to his tribe. She wondered if Deathbringer had wanted dragonets. Add another thing to her list of things to ask Deathbringer. She waited until the satchel he'd brought with him was empty.

"If you find yourselves wanting more, well you know where the Rainwing village is. They have more than plenty for all of you!" he announced to the now dispersing crowd, before turning and walking towards Glory.

"Don't think I can't smell my favorite dragon from a few dragon lengths away," Deathbringer cockily grinned.

Glory left her camouflaged state, materializing from seemingly thin air, smiling. 

"You look beautiful," Deathbringer complimented, still grinning, though with less arrogance and more warmth.

Glory let pink wash over parts of her scales instead of responding directly.

"It seems you had some fun today," Glory said.

"Most of it was boring, trust me. Just me, my thoughts, and the rainforest. You came at the fun part," Deathbringer replied. "How was your day?"

"Fine, boring, mostly. Why the sudden rush to share fruits with Nightwings?" Glory asked.

"Just me being spontaneous. I was just walking in the rainforest, bored out of my mind, ya know since you wouldn't let me do any royal business. Decided that since the Nightwings have been in this rainforest for like 3 years now, they should eat some more local food. You introduced me to fruits like a few months back, so I figured why not. My endorsement of fruits would push them to do the same, so I grabbed a satchel and went to work. Just some time to think about stuff while picking berries and bananas.

"How proactive of you. You would never admit that you liked the fruit. Don't think I haven't tasted fruit juice on your snout," Glory chuckled. 

"Speaking of thoughts, let's go somewhere more private to talk. There's a beach nearby, and we haven't had some us time in a while," Glory added, to which Deathbringer nodded, smiling at the prospect of a much-needed date with his wife.

"You know, it's been a while since I've seen the sunset," Deathbringer said as he and Glory sat down on the sand, watching the dimming sunrays dance gracefully on the ocean's surface.

"What do you mean?" Glory asked as she leaned against Deathbringer, relishing the warmth of the sand seeping into her scales.

"In the scavenger world, I could only lie on my side and watch the sky turn from blue to orange and purple, then black. The walls and structures prevented me from seeing the sun itself dip below the horizon. It's kind of been something I took for granted, seeing the sunset. It only makes me feel sorry for the humans," Deathbringer said. "Only when they get far enough from the walls, or on top of the walls, can they see the sun hit the horizon."

"Oh! That makes me remember something Eren told me," Glory added. "He and a friend of his, Armin made it their goal to go beyond the walls and see the ocean. These humans have never seen the ocean, Deathbringer. Are they really living, caged up in those walls?"

"No. Everyone in there is trapped out of necessity. But security can't replace freedom, it never will. Every living being dies someday. Living one more day isn't worth the sacrifice if you have to give up freedom. The freedom to watch the sunset over a vast ocean. To live as you please. It's just like my tribe during the Sandwing War of Succession. Everyone was stuck on the island because it was the queen's plan. I and a few select others got the privilege to go out, but even then, we were still chained by the queen's orders," Deathbringer replied somberly. "Those on the island forgot what the moons were like. Forgot what fresh air was like, what it was like to not breathe sulfur and smoke day in and day out. For those outside the island, it was accomplishing the task at hand and return before a specified date or be outlawed, and find yourself at the mercy of the warring forces outside of the island. I imagine it to be the same for humans. Forgetting what the world outside the walls was like, unable to enjoy what nature had to offer out of fear of those disgusting titans. "

"Wow," was all Glory could say. Deathbringer rarely opened up about his past, and by rarely, it was competing with 3 full moons. The last time he did anything similar to this was when he explained why he was so protective of her. Long story short, he vowed to do everything in his power to not lose any more dragons that he cared about ever since his mother died. 

"I know, my past is kinda dark," Deathbringer chuckled. 

"You're laughing it off?" Glory asked, bewildered.

"Yeah. My past is my past. I can't do anything to change it. I can only move forward," Deathbringer said pensively.

"What was your mother's name again?" Glory asked after a few moments of silence.

"Quickstrike. Why do you ask?" Deathbringer replied.

"You weren't free to protect her. You were forced to put the mission first. Is that right?" Glory asked.

"Yes."

"Is that why you decided to help the scavengers? Because you could relate to their situation of being forced to live a certain way by things out of their control?" Glory asked.

"That's an interesting conclusion," Deathbringer answered. "But I guess that makes sense, the more I think about it."

Glory hummed in acknowledgment. She spoke again after some thinking. "If you ever need to talk or vent about something, I'm always here."

"Thanks for the offer, but that won't be necessary. You being here is enough," Deathbringer smiled. 

"Are you sure about that?" Glory chuckled.

"Maybe, maybe not," Deathbringer grinned. 

"You doofus," Glory said. "You can't last a single day if I stopped talking to you."

"Please don't ever do that. I was scared when you were gone in the human world," Deathbringer muttered.

Glory's smile disappeared. "You were? Did the soldiers hurt you in any way?"

"No, not like that. But I was worried for you, and I was wounded, so if titans somehow broke through the wall again, well that would be the end of the road for me. I felt helpless," Deathbringer admitted, unable to look Glory in the eyes. "I was useless, weak."

"No, don't say that about yourself. You're the very opposite of those. You've whipped Rainwings into shape, subdued opponents twice your size. We killed dozens of titans together and it took an armored, intelligent opponent three times your size that you have no training in dealing with you even injure you. If anything, it was my fault for not helping you fight him," Glory hissed.

"Do not try to shift blame to yourself. No one could have predicted the titan would move like that," Deathbringer groaned. "There's no point in arguing over this. The blame lies fully with that armored bastard. Turning against his own people. I cannot think of one example where a dragon would sell out his own."

Glory sighed.

"I've been meaning to ask you something," Deathbringer said.

"I'm all ears."

"No, you're not. But I digress. What do you think of Erwin's plan? It was some sort of all or nothing plan, and we play a role in it, right? What are the details?" Deathbringer continued.

"Well, we have 28 days left, as you probably know, before we are scheduled to return for the operation. He said that because of the boulder blocking the hole in Trost District, we will be deploying along with the Scouting legion and any recruits from the other branches from Karanese district several hundred kilometers to the east. Eren will be picking up rocks and stuffing them into the holes in the walls like he did at Trost. We'll be doing damage control, and it is our job to deal with titans the soldiers can't handle. I'm sure that there will be new developments over there that Erwin will have to fill us in on when we get there, but for now, that's the general plan. Hopefully, we don't take forever with this final mission," Glory replied.

"Also that we come out unscathed. It would be bad if we got hurt or worse on what is essentially a charitable mission," Deathbringer said, visibly cringing at the thought of either him or Glory dying. 

"That reminds me. I was doing some thinking during court today, and I realized that there are a lot of variables to Erwin's plan that can result in bad outcomes if we're not careful. More titan shifters, random accidents, poor weather, traitors, etc.," Glory said. "I think it would be wise for us to spend time training to maximize the possibility of good outcomes."

"That would be wise. Want to start now?" Deathbringer grinned.

"No. It's our first evening back. Let's just enjoy the remains of this sunset and head home when it's dark," Glory replied, leaning further into Deathbringer and tightening her tail around Deathbringer's tail. "If you die during this last mission, I swear to the three moons above that I'll revive you and torture you for leaving me."

"Not being able to kiss you is torture enough," Deathbringer said, leaning in, which Glory reciprocated.

The two watched the remains of the sunset together. They had a long road ahead.

Author's Note: I kind of rushed this chapter. Worry not readers, for I shall come back in time and add more to this, including training scenes, brushing up the dialogue and whatnot. I understand everyone is anxious for updates, hence the rush. 


End file.
